(From left) Sally Sheriza Ahmad,Suhaini Sulaiman, Tamizi Tamby,Nur Zaihanirah Zaini and Muhammad Afifi Azham Mohd.
KUCHING: The state government’s decision to allow food businesses and even households to sell takeaway food until 10pm during the Ramadan month is hard to swallow for many people in Sarawak given the Movement Control Order (MCO) to stop the spread of Covid-19.
The state disaster management committee (SDMC) announced the extended hours for restaurants, hotels and fast food chains yesterday, adding that Sarawakians were also allowed to sell food from their house compound from 3pm to 10pm during Ramadan in spite of the 7pm to 7am requirement for all essential businesses to close.
Although the committee had also advised buyers and sellers to protect themselves against the virus, people in the state feel that it was still an unnecessary risk given the high number of Covid-19 cases in some parts of Sarawak.
Sally Sheriza Ahmad, 43, said that while she accepts that food and beverage businesses need to sustain their income and this could even be the only source of livelihood for some people, allowing them to operate without proper control measures and monitoring could expose both buyers and sellers to the virus.
“MCO implementation in the states throughout Malaysia is the right move, I am all for it. Not to forget, these few days Sarawak saw a sudden surge in Covid-19 positive cases which is very alarming.
“I think the current window for doing errands and collecting food is sufficient, just stick to the MCO time limit to 7pm,” said Sally, who works for an oil and gas company.
She told The Borneo Post that she also felt crowd control could become a problem if people were allowed to sell food within their house compound.
“What if one housing estate starts selling food, this will become more or less like Bazaar Ramadan, then we must be prepared for more Covid-19 cases and definitely defeat the purpose of MCO, please think of our frontliners,” she said.
However, for hotels and food chains she said, all precautions should be observed but she still felt that 10pm is too long of a window.
Citing one of the Covid-19 cases in Sarawak where the patient had returned from abroad and infected others around her, banker, Suhaini Sulaiman, 55, said the authorities should not learn from it.
“Allowing people to buy and sell food during Ramadan is like a suicide mission, and extending the time to 10pm defeats the MCO purpose.
“I think the government should listen to the people’s concerns especially this time of crisis or probably refer to the Ministry of Health for a wise decision,” she said.
When asked if she would prefer to cook rather than buying, she said preparing meals during Ramadan was never an issue for her.
“Therefore, is there a problem preparing your own meal? Afterall, in Islam we are taught to be self sufficient and not spending beyond our means,” she said.
In yesterday’s Sarawak disaster management committee’s daily Covid-19 briefing , State Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the traders could only operate from 3pm to 10pm during the fasting month, and the food sold must be for takeaways only.
In Sibu, Tamizi Tamby, 34, also expressed his hoped that the SDMC would reconsider the decision to allow Sarawakians to sell food for takeaway during Ramadan.
He said he is not in favour of the decision as it could endanger everyone, especially those in the red zone.
“I think any decision should be made in the name of public health and safety. Allowing that will defeat the whole purpose of MCO.
“Sarawak still has high number of cases especially in Kuching and Samarahan divisions. Even though Sibu has not recorded any new cases, it is still the best way to work together with the federal government especially on the MCO matters,” he said when contacted today.
He said it saddened him not being able to go to a mosque during Ramadan, but believed that it was best to comply with the rules for the safety and health of everyone.
“However, I think for this time, I could save a bit of money because every Ramadan, I always buy food, and this is an opportunity for me to spend more time with my family too,” he said.
Nur Zaihanirah Zaini, 27, also disagreed with the government’s move as it would increase the chances of human contact, thus wasting the effort being done so far to curb the virus.
“As I did not see any specific rules applied, anyone could simply breach the social distancing and use this excuse to roam around.
“Unless there is a specific rule and guideline that will be imposed, I do not think it’s a good idea at all,” she said, urging the government to reconsider.
She also said that this was the right time to be staying at home and catch up with their spiritual journey during Ramadan.
For a government servant and a frontliner, Muhammad Afifi Azham Mohd, 31, who hails from Taiping, Perak and works here, the allowance given to sell food from within the compound of a house is unacceptable
“Looking at the current situation on Covid-19 in Sarawak especially in Kuching and Kota Samarahan, it is not necessary to allow food vendors to sell food even within the compound of their home.
“Even when we are now in phase three of MCO, many people are still going out from home and are on the roads, not thinking of the impact of the deadly disease. Imagine opening till 10pm, there is a possibility that the wave this time will be much higher. Please have empathy for our frontliners,” he said.