RESTAURANTS offering banquet and buffet catering services hoped social events such as weddings and year-end dinners could resume soon as Malaysia moves into an endemic Covid-19 phase.

They said that the year-end periods in the past have shown to be peak season for weddings, making it an opportune time for restaurants to earn after the losses they experienced during the movement-control order phases.

However, a recent comment by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Twitter, that social functions would be among the last sectors to be reopened, had given rise to fears they may face closures instead.

Malaysia Koo Soo Restaurants and Chefs’ Association president Wong Teu Hoon told The Malaysian Insight that the industry had been holding on while waiting for Covid-19 infections to reduce.

“We have tried our best to make it through. We hope that after the number of cases drops, the industry would be given a chance to receive banquet orders.

“We will also adhere to the standard operating procedure (SOP),” he said.

Wong said that the public may be still worried about hosting banquets under the epidemic, but added that some customers had indicated a desire to do so.

He said the industry continues to receive inquiries on banquets.

“We will discuss with customers first without charging a deposit in case of repeated lockdowns; doing refunds will be more troublesome,” Wong said.

He said restaurants have had no banquet orders since June, and that he could no longer describe the plight of the industry in words.

He added that 95% of the income of a restaurant comes from wedding banquets, but that they are currently surviving on dine-in services and takeaway orders.

“After dine-ins were allowed, business rebounded slightly, depending on the region.

“For example, business in the big cities like Kuala Lumpur rose to 50%, but it was only 30%, at most, in small towns.

“Some operators received orders for small birthday functions for dine-in for next month. Each table is limited to a certain number of seats,” Wong said.

Shutters down

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Ku Su Shin Choong Hung Restaurants Association chairman Lum Tuck Loy, on the other hand, said that operators are still afraid to accept banquet orders.

He also said that more restaurants are closing down in the Klang Valley.

“People used to be happy about going out to eat, but restaurants do not see this today,” he said.

Yugi Tan, who is in charge of FUN OK Seafood Restaurant in Ampang, Selangor, said their buffet business saw a 95% drop due to the pandemic.

He said that the restaurant had adapted its practices to become more open to accepting orders for smaller quantities.

“During the pandemic, there were small buffet orders for groups of five, eight or 10. It was rare to receive orders for more than 20,” Tan said. – October 11, 2021.