By Ravindran Raman Kutty

The current pandemic situation is not helping anyone except certain industries like the glove manufacturers, pharmaceutical industry and the logistics sector.

Most Malaysians are struggling between the MCO and CMCO. The worst are the people in the B40 category. Several individuals have lost their jobs. Many daily wage employees are out in a lurch. The service sector is struggling.

The people in my township are neither spared. We see a sudden surge in the number of small entrepreneurs setting up businesses to supplement their incomes or to survive.

There are more than 20 stalls that have mushroomed around our township,  Bandar Sri Damansara. The main roads and commercial areas are hit by these potential or would-be hawkers who want to sell various types of food and fruits.

I am sure this situation is not unique to Bandar Sri Damansara, an affluent town with  sporadic locations of low-cost flats in the fringes.

During the MCO 2020, my friend Mr. Kiritharan and I extended aid to more than 80 occupants of Sri Cempaka Flats by providing them with their daily food rations through the help of several like-minded individuals who donated graciously to the well-being of these people.

This pocket of people, constituting mainly of Malays and Indians, are barely surviving. I am sure there are more people like them in the areas of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang, Puchong and Old Klang Road.

Other than the unwelcoming visits by enforcement officers or the local authorities in their trucks and vans, what is the long-term solution for these desperate folks?

My suggestion is that MBPJ, DBKL, MPK and all other local authorities in Klang Valley and other states sit down and discuss a long-term plan for these poor people. Give them aid and provide a suitable location for them to hawk their wares instead of setting up stalls along the busy roadside. This is a big risk not only for the hawkers but their customers, too.

MBPJ enforcement officers come by daily to hunt these traders down and forcefully chase them out of their businesses.

There was one such incident where in the midst of the commotion with a kacang puteh seller, three bags of kacang puteh had dropped on the road. Not only did the enforcement officers ban the trader from his business, but also helped themselves to the three bags.

This was a sad incident indeed. Although I have since reported this to the mayor, no affirmative action has been taken to resolve the existing issue on hand.

Besides the kacang puteh seller, there is also a locksmith with the same dilemma.

They have been trading for the past seven years in my township. Although they have diligently applied for their respective licenses three times over the years, they have not received their licenses till today. They have no choice but to continue with their businesses without the proper licensing as they have mouths to feed and families to care for.

The local authorities should identify a suitable location and build a decent hawker center with proper water and electricity supply, good drainage and waste systems, proper toilets and good parking facilities. This will certainly help the poor hawkers find a better and cleaner place to sustain their income.

Rather than the enforcement officers coming and terrorizing the traders, why not do a survey and provide feedback to the licensing department to issue them a license the soonest possible, rather than being an obstacle to the poor hawkers?

Perhaps the licensing department of all the local authorities could issue temporary hawking licenses or permits for these traders, and then proceed to the processing of a more permanent license.

I would also like to suggest that the town councils and local authorities issue mobile (truck/motorcycle) hawking licenses to these hawkers so that they can also find a decent living to sustain themselves.

The enforcement team must also be fair to all races and not treat any race unequally.

In our township, there are some hawkers who have set up stalls and conducting their businesses illegally way before the MCO, yet no action has been taken against them, especially along Persiaran Ara in Bandar Sri Damansara.

It will also be good for the MACC to check on the enforcement teams' personal background and actions on the ground.

It will be good if the MACC officers come down in muftis and carry out a check to see if there are any malpractices on the ground by the enforcement officers.

The hawker menace must be contained and organized to bring out the best in the interest of the poor B40 people.

It takes everyone to find a quick solution to this issue, which is fast becoming a dilemma to the residents and other business operators who are also working to earn their salaries, pay their utility bills, yearly assessments and taxes.

We cannot allow anyone to become a hawker by flouting the laws, then further depriving the law-abiding business community to suffer.

We need a concerted plan by the local authorities, town councils, the housing ministry, elected state assemblymen/politicians, MACC to find a quick solution to this issue.

Let's not ignore the woes of the poor rakyat. COVID-19 is an excellent case study for everyone to review our operations, work methods as part of the New Normal.

If we can address the woes of the hawkers, this will automatically address the concerns of the poor and unemployed too.

There must be an approach to address their concerns. The local authorities cannot do what they have been doing for the past years anymore. New ways must be instituted to ensure the hawkers are freed on this painful agony of running away from the enforcement officers.

We must systematically address this issue, as eating at the hawkers is our Malaysian culture. We cannot ignore hawkers anymore. They must be organized and must progressively grow in their business.

Hawkers too can contribute to our economy. I still remember the Syed Restaurant owner who was just an ordinary "teh tarik"  stall owner at Jalan Utara, right in front of former Thrifty Supermarket, Petaling Jaya.

He is doing so well now with so many restaurants in Klang Valley. Every hawker must envisage to grow like the Syed restaurant owner. He is an excellent example for everyone to emulate too.

(Ravindran Raman Kutty is an active social worker.)