KUALA LUMPUR – A group of 80 restaurant owners and head chefs are appealing to the Perikatan Nasional government and Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to lift the ban on dine-ins during the movement control order (MCO) through a petition.
Spokesman Edward Soo, who owns medium- to high-end restaurants, told The Vibes that other sectors trigger more Covid-19 cases and clusters compared with eateries.
“(Statistics) show that out of the 314 Covid-19 clusters reported nationwide between February 22 and April 2, factories are the highest contributors at 38.54%, followed by community spreads (15.29%), construction sites (8.6%), educational institutions (7.96%) and shopping sites (7.01%).
“Restaurants comprise only 0.96% of the clusters (or 0.31% of the total Covid-19 case contributions from clusters).
“Given these statistics, it is clear that allowing dine-ins has a small impact on the spread of Covid 19.
“We plead with you, sir, to take our appeal into consideration, and allow dining in restaurants during the current MCO 3.0,” said the petition to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Soo said it is not suitable for medium- to high-end restaurants to offer deliveries and takeaways via ride-sharing or food delivery applications, such as Grab or Foodpanda.
This is due to their business models and the services offered at such restaurants, he added.
He said the food cost makes up 40% of the total bill, while a food delivery service takes a 30% cut on the overall bill, thus leaving restaurant owners with no choice but to accept a meagre profit.
However, he admitted that there are restaurants that profit from offering food delivery, including fast food outlets, nasi lemak stalls and lower-end eateries – all of which can garner a much higher income during lockdown.
Based on their menus, medium- to high-end restaurants suffer due to their price range, and because their food tastes better when dining in.
“My nasi lemak costs RM26, (while) Village Park’s nasi lemak costs about RM10,” said Soo.
“If you are to have nasi lemak delivered, where will you order? My place or Village Park?
“I also sell Wagyu Tomahawk steaks, which tastes much better when you dine-in. Would you order a RM700 to RM800 steak (minimum) for home delivery?
“Most people would just go to the grocers and supermarkets to buy expensive steaks and cook them at home.
“Grocers and supermarkets are making a lot of money, while we are suffering.”
Hundreds of thousands of ringgit lost during each MCO
So far, Soo’s businesses have lost close to RM1 million over the past two MCOs.
He also had to shutter one of his five restaurants, Bobo.
However, Soo is still able to keep his steakhouse, Lucky Bo, in Bangsar, famed for its Wagyu Tomahawks and char kuey teow fried using Wagyu fat.
His Italian restaurant Opus, Mediterranean fare Cava and Spanish restaurant Leonardo have also survived the adverse effects of the MCOs.
Each time an MCO is implemented, mid-tier and premium restaurants specialising in dining in lose roughly 90% of their income, he added.
“We have lost between RM40,000 and RM50,000 per restaurant each month every time there’s an MCO.
“During the first seven-week-long MCO, we lost around RM700,000 to RM800,000.
“During the second MCO, which was around five weeks long, we lost around RM200,000.
“I’m lucky that I’ve a lot of partners who are rather wealthy.
“They’ve been pumping in money, and I’ve also had to borrow money from my brother to stay afloat.
“Even then, I had to shut down one of my restaurants as it was bleeding too much.
“I transferred my staff from Bobo to my other restaurants.
“Luckily I have others (restaurants), otherwise my workers would lose their jobs.”
Soo said he employs a dozen workers for each outlet, but has lost a sizable number of staff as he was forced to implement a 30% to 40% pay cut per MCO to keep his businesses in operation.
On the fate of other eatery owners in the Klang Valley or Malaysia as a whole, Soo said he believes they, too, suffer a similar fate, and fears that he and other head chefs, as well as proprietors, may be out of business soon.
We don’t mind strict SOPs, as long as we can survive
In appealing to Muhyiddin, the group members said they do not mind stricter standard operating procedures (SOPs), as long as they are allowed to accept dine-in customers.
“We fully understand the need to control the pandemic and sacrifice that each of us must make to ensure the safety of everyone.
“In this regard, we have implemented stringent SOPs at our restaurants, which are constantly monitored by the local council and police.
“There are, of course, some recalcitrant restaurants or bars that flout SOPs, but the whole industry should not be punished for the failure of a few,” said the petition signatories.
Soo said by shutting down dine-in options, the government is also on the losing end of obtaining revenue.
For each sale a restaurant makes, the government gets a 6% cut from the sales and services tax, he added.
“Our monthly sales (for all five restaurants) is around RM800,000.
“At a 6% rate, the government makes some RM48,000 each month from my businesses.
“Imagine if that is expanded to the other restaurants.”
Among the petition’s 80 signatories are Menate Steak Hub owner Syed Ashraf Syed Ali; Social, Lisette’s Café, Ekamai and Café Deli owner Mei Li Tan; myBurgerLab owner Chin Ren Yi; Kenny Hills Baker head chef Fandee Zain; Serai Group owner Rina Abdullah; and, Devi’s Corner Bangsar owner Dev Ananth.
At press time, the petition has received 3,312 signatures within seven hours of its launch, with comments supporting the petition, especially from eatery owners.
Similarly, The Vibes Twitter poll found that 63% of respondents would like dine-ins to be reinstated, but with stricter SOPs. – The Vibes, May 7, 2021
