By Nurul Natasha Binti Nazaruddin
Recently, the Malaysian government represented by our PM, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, have made a new change to the national preventive measures: that is the commence of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) starting on the 10th of June this year.
The name of the phase reflectively indicates the good news: our country is well underway in making promising progresses with the declination of positive COVID 19 cases. In fact, just recently, Malaysia has also been recognized as amongst the top 5 nations to have successfully contained the outbreak of Coronavirus, as announced by the Senior Minister of Security Cluster, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Consequently, the continuous success has let the government to be more lenient with the measures taken for most businesses and services nationwide. As a result, a list of relaxed measures was announced in lieu of the new RMCO phase; public transports such as public buses, taxis, e-hailing services, LRT, MRT, etc. are now fully operational with allowance to receive full capacity of passengers; Friday prayers and congregational obligated prayers are permitted granted that worshippers occupy only a third of the prayer space or reach a maximum of 40 capacity per mosque; market activities and restaurant dine-ins are also authorized- all of these are allowed on the condition that consumers, service operators and sellers nationwide commit to full compliance with the standard of procedure (SOP) guidelines and social distancing measures. Indeed, most Malaysians are more than happy to utilize and indulge into these conveniences right about now. However, given the current circumstances within the economy status, there are those who require our special attention and help in this time of need: the small, local food businesses.
Ever since the implementation of the first MCO a few months back, many local businesses found (and are still finding) themselves in a tight spot with the restriction of social interaction, in which food buying and selling are a part of. Hence, many small businesses have been facing setbacks with their financial status. Although, given the restrictions are applied to countless other businesses as well, these local food businesses such as the roadside hawkers, warungs, and food trucks are believed to have been hit with greater impact from the economy’s slow progression. Hence, there are many a reason as to why we should appreciably support local food businesses.
Small food businesses as side incomes
First and foremost, many newcomers in local food businesses these days consist of out-of-work or lesser-income employees since MCO was first implemented, if you would observe. The condition of national quarantine demands most companies and businesses to experience quite a fall in the production and thus, profit. This then affects the companies’ ability to accommodate to employees’ salary costs, explaining why many employees have been let off since. Hence, in hopes of compensating with the amount of lost income, these former or struggling employees start up their own business to support their families. Food industry provides great profit; thus, it is perfectly rational why many would lean to food-selling for side incomes during the quarantine. Many of us are not part of the upper-class society, hence, we understand comparatively well to their struggles, so why not lend a helping hand to these small local businesses if that meant helping them put food on the table for their families.
Boosting the local economy amidst COVID19
The second reason being the fact that by supporting local food businesses, we would also be helping with the local Malaysian economy. Many established companies have already shut down in the wake of the struggles amidst the pandemic. Now, just imagine the situation with smaller, road-side sellers- naturally, their side of the coin would not look so good either, if not much worse. However, people should be aware of the fact that we can help our decelerating economy grow by encouraging small businesses to successfully create more employment opportunities. If we could just collectively opt for locally owned food businesses, even if just for buying a char kuey teow or nasi lemak once every week, your small financial contribution on these food stalls would be of great help to their regularity of generating income, which would then help to boost our local economy.
Supporting local farms
By purchasing smaller made-in-Malaysia food businesses, you would indirectly support the businesses of local farms as well. Many local food sellers obtain raw resources and products from our own people to make food. With the quarantine on going, the lack of customers and purchasing affect many local hawkers and small food businesses, sequentially, the income of many farmers, fishermen and fish breeders has been hurt as well. Hence, the surge of local food consumption would undeniably keep our local agricultural businesses thriving, subsequently, this would also assist in keeping open spaces or lands out from the hands of profiteering suburban developers.
Small and local food businesses are climate-friendly
Another good reason to favor buying food from our warungs, food trucks, food stalls and shops is because the production of these small businesses is better for the environment. The existence of established food businesses like many of the (imported) fast food or food franchising corporations have been proven to be an environmental hazard. The preparations required to produce fast food, including the transportation, manufacturing, and emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) are incredibly damaging to the planet. Not to mention, mega food corporations also tend to cut down trees and forests in order to capacitate huge numbers of livestock to raise. Smaller, local food businesses however, are less harmful, even the local farms they depend on are generally safer for the environment; they do not usually own factories; thus, they emit lesser greenhouse gas and are relatively benign to carbon footprints. Local food consumers have to keep in mind then, that you would not only support these businesses’ financial struggles, but also contribute to improve environmental health.
Amidst this pandemic, many things have changed for the worst: our economy is showing signs of deflation and countless people are losing jobs. Financial restraint is felt nation-wide in these trying times. But some are falling harder than others, and that include small business owners selling local food. If we can be supportive to these businesses, we would not only help these people live through the pandemic, but also assist the growth of local farms and the Malaysian economy, as well as contributing to ecological preservation. So, cash out some of those ringgits and be assured that “when you support a small business, you are supporting a dream.”
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