Gomez hands over the sewing machines yesterday at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
KOTA KINABALU: The Singer Gaya branch is lending sewing machines to the staff of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOCC) of Queen Elizabeth Hospital here so they can make Personal Protective gear (PPE).
Branch manager, Gomez Sim personally delivered five sewing machines to a personnel at the EOCC yesterday.
According to Gomez, he is deeply moved by the courageous and strong-willed medical frontliners who risked their lives everyday for the sake of the nation.
“In these times of crisis, when all we can do is sit in the comfort of our own home, it is these brave men and women who are continuously risking their life at the frontline, battling the invisible Covid-19 enemy,” he said.
He added that he was grateful for their sacrifices and endeavors to help them to the best of his capacity.
Gomez also said it was difficult to attain fabric materials suitable to be used for the making of PPE in Sabah presently.
“Because shops selling fabrics are closed, it is difficult to get the materials.”
He urged that the government consider shops selling fabric materials and craft shops for threads and other sewing utensils as among the businesses that should be allowed to operate.
“I think business related to sewing should be allowed to operate during the MCO as these businesses are essential in the production of face masks and it helps in a way to reduce the demand for buying these face masks from other countries. We will be able to produce income even from home.”
He added that people with a knack for sewing during the MCO could generate an income by sewing PPEs that were needed by the Health sector in the fight against Covid-19.
“Not only that, sewing is an enriching hobby and is a skill that parents can teach their children especially now when everyone has to stay at home.”
Aside from that, he also feels that other essential industries that should be opened during the MCO is the electronics and machinery industry.
“This is because more families are opting to stay at home and are reducing the number of trips they have to take to buy groceries from local markets due to the fear of contracting Covid-19. They will need ample refrigeration space to store the food they bought — the vegetables, the meat and so on.”
He urged that such electrical appliances and machinery shops with household appliances be opened so that families could buy what they needed during this time of isolation.
Meanwhile, another respondent on the industries that should be allowed to operate during the MCO, Nancy John, said that health supplement retailers should be allowed to open.
“Because we provide proper supplements and nutrition that will help boost our immune systems to fight this virus,” she said.
She felt that having strong immune system is as important as donning protective gear and adopting social distancing.