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| Restaurant operators are asking why they cannot have dine-in patrons in areas under the movement control order (MCO) |
Restaurant owners in a pickle over ban on dining ink
FMT
8/5/2021
PETALING JAYA: Restaurant operators are asking why they cannot have dine-in patrons in areas under the movement control order (MCO) when all other sectors of the economy are allowed to continue operating as usual.
More than 80 owners and managers and chefs of restaurants have launched a petition asking for dining in to be allowed.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob and health-director general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, they say there is a low risk of dine-in customers worsening the spread of Covid-19 if strict adherence to SOPs is maintained.
Renyi Chin, the co-founder of myBurgerLab, told FMT he didn’t see the logic behind the ban.
“The statistics are there,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense that dining in is not allowed when we know it is not a significant contributor to clusters.”
He was referring to health ministry statistics on Covid-19 cases
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from Feb 22 to April 2, which showed that most were detected in factories (48.1%). This was followed by community spread (12.6%), construction sites (11.6%) and detention centres (5.6%).
Restaurants accounted for 0.3% of cases over the 39-day period.
Factories have been given the green light to operate as usual during the MCO.
Chin said he didn’t want to start comparing restaurant SOPs with those of other sectors, adding that he didn’t think double standards were in play.
“It just isn’t well thought out,” he said, referring to the ban on dining in.
He said the current rainy weather, combined with the decreasing number of delivery riders, had seen his takings plummet on some days to as low as 10% of the normal amount.
Kuala Lumpur was placed under MCO 3.0 yesterday, along with Johor Bahru, Kulai and Kota Tinggi in Johor, Taiping in Perak and 14 sub-districts in Terengganu. The MCO in these areas will run until May 20.
The Selangor districts of Petaling, Gombak, Klang, Kuala Langat, Hulu Langat and Sepang were placed under MCO on May 6. The MCO in these areas is set to end on May 17.
The first MCO, which started on March 18 last year, also saw restrictions on dine-in customers before Muhyiddin announced that eateries would be allowed to welcome dine-in patrons again from May 4.
Dining in was banned again during MCO 2.0, which started on Jan 11 this year, before the government lifted the restriction less than a month later, first allowing two customers per table with tables spaced out at 1m.
A restaurant owner in Kuala Lumpur also suggested a rule limiting the time dine-in customers can spend in food outlets.
“I think one hour is fair, but it depends on the food being served,” he said. “There should be a set time. People who want to dine in have to adhere to it.”
Bucking the trend of restaurant operators disagreeing with the dine-in ban, Huen Su San, who manages 10 F&B outlets and two central kitchens, said she had no problem with having to rely on deliveries and takeaways.
“As long as there are results after this and the MCO is not prolonged, I am okay,” she said.
Restaurants accounted for 0.3% of cases over the 39-day period.
Factories have been given the green light to operate as usual during the MCO.
Chin said he didn’t want to start comparing restaurant SOPs with those of other sectors, adding that he didn’t think double standards were in play.
“It just isn’t well thought out,” he said, referring to the ban on dining in.
He said the current rainy weather, combined with the decreasing number of delivery riders, had seen his takings plummet on some days to as low as 10% of the normal amount.
Kuala Lumpur was placed under MCO 3.0 yesterday, along with Johor Bahru, Kulai and Kota Tinggi in Johor, Taiping in Perak and 14 sub-districts in Terengganu. The MCO in these areas will run until May 20.
The Selangor districts of Petaling, Gombak, Klang, Kuala Langat, Hulu Langat and Sepang were placed under MCO on May 6. The MCO in these areas is set to end on May 17.
The first MCO, which started on March 18 last year, also saw restrictions on dine-in customers before Muhyiddin announced that eateries would be allowed to welcome dine-in patrons again from May 4.
Dining in was banned again during MCO 2.0, which started on Jan 11 this year, before the government lifted the restriction less than a month later, first allowing two customers per table with tables spaced out at 1m.
A restaurant owner in Kuala Lumpur also suggested a rule limiting the time dine-in customers can spend in food outlets.
“I think one hour is fair, but it depends on the food being served,” he said. “There should be a set time. People who want to dine in have to adhere to it.”
Bucking the trend of restaurant operators disagreeing with the dine-in ban, Huen Su San, who manages 10 F&B outlets and two central kitchens, said she had no problem with having to rely on deliveries and takeaways.
“As long as there are results after this and the MCO is not prolonged, I am okay,” she said.
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