KUCHING: Food operators are slowly recovering under phase two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) that began recently.
The owner of 126 Laksa, Tung Pei Sin expressed her delight at the resumption of dine-in service, claiming that her shop had made more sales since the dine-in ban was lifted.
“During the period when we were not allowed to operate, our sales dropped drastically. I am glad more people are coming in to enjoy the Sarawak laksa after the dine-in services resumed,” she said, adding that her customers loved to eat the dish while it was still hot.
“The authorities have inspected my shop a few times now. For me, this is good. It reminds everyone to strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to prevent the emergence of a new cluster.”
Another eatery owner, Wee Boo Yaw, who had been running the Old Street Shop for over 10 years, said he preferred meeting customers face to face compared to selling online.
“I do not use social media that much because I am not very knowledgeable about it. I prefer people to come over so that I can chat with them while they enjoy the food that I make,” he said.
He added that even after the resumption of the dine-in services, few people came to his shop.
“That is normal for me; we all have our ups and downs in business. But we are progressively recovering from our losses by keeping our shop open from 7.30am to 4pm almost every day.”
Wee expressed his faith in the state government, stating that the vaccination programme in Sarawak was progressing really well and that once the borders reopened, many tourists would come to Sarawak.
“Now that more people have been vaccinated here, I am optimistic that we can achieve herd immunity. Hopefully, I can have more customers by then as my shop used to be a tourist attraction due to its strategic location,” he remarked.
Similarly, Haslin Mohd Naser, the owner of MJAYS Café, said fewer people were coming over to her shop since the resumption of the dine-in services.
“I believe that many are still afraid to eat out. On average, we receive 30-50 orders from food delivery merchants and that shows that people are still anxious about the whole pandemic situation,” she said.
Haslin said that since then, she only cooked fast food (nasi campur) in smaller portions to avoid wastage.
She hoped that the government would provide more specific information including infographics on the SOPs because many traders were confused by the procedures.
“I hope that the government can provide us with more detailed SOPs to ensure that all eateries can run smoothly and efficiently with strict compliance to the SOPs,” she said.
