Sin Chew Daily

Defense senior minister Ismail Sabri announced on Tuesday that MCO 2.0 would be extended for another two weeks nationwide, with the only exception of Sarawak, until Feb 18, for a total of 37 days since it was first implemented on Jan 13. By comparison, last year's MCO lasted for 47 days from March 18 through May 3.

By right we should have adopted a much more drastic approach in the war against a very powerful virus, like what China did. But here in Malaysia, this battle has been dragged on unnecessarily for too long such that we are now put in a very disadvantaged position.

Health DG Noor Hisham Abdullah has warned that we may see over 10k new cases each day from the second week of March.

Simply put, there's no way we can celebrate the coming Chinese New Year the way we used to do in the past.

Last year's CNY fell on Jan 25 and we were lucky to be able to celebrate the festive season before the virus struck. Unfortunately the Malays and Indians were forced to celebrate their new years under tight SOPs during our first MCO. And now, it is our turn to celebrate a very much toned down CNY wherever we are in the absence of a family reunion dinner with the loved ones back home.

With the ban on interstate and inter-district travels still very much in place, many lonely parents back in the hometowns can no longer look forward to their children coming back for the once-a-year reunion dinner, a much cherished CNY tradition for as long as we remember.

For many wage-earners who have worked so hard for the entire year, they may not get to enjoy their year-end bonuses they have always longed for. Indeed, many companies are struggling just to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, the festive shopping market is extremely hushed. Many businesses have counted on the pre-CNY shopping spree for a bountiful year ahead. Unfortunately this is not what they can expect this year, but rather piles of unsold goods which would have been sold like hot cakes in any other year.

Talking about restaurants, the wedding banquets, company dinners and birthday parties which used to contribute the bulk of their businesses are all absent this year. Many have suffered over 70% dip in their businesses, and can only pin their hopes on the meager takeaway sector for survival as dining-in is not allowed now.

Restaurants used to do brisk businesses for the few weeks from CNY Eve to Chap Goh Meh, but this is nowhere near reality this year. Many restaurants are expected to shutter for good after the festive season.

As for shopping malls, many tenants may have to bow out to cut loss if the MCO is extended further. While more established malls may still claim to have 90% occupancy rate today, most tenants may not wish to renew once their 3-year tenancy contracts expire. Chain effects from the economic fallout may eventually kill our commercial activities.

The CNY sale this year may be the last hope for many in the retail and services sectors, If MCO is extended or SOPs tightened through Hari Raya, it will be like inplugging the ventilators from these ICU patients!

Judging from the current trend of development, it appears that we may have to continue fighting the virus until end of this year. Not many businesses may live to see this flicker of hope, though.