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KOTA KINABALU, Feb 12 ― Every year for almost two decades, Liew Wai Soon and her whole family would open a stall in Foh Sang during the annual Chinese New Year night market, hawking festive fares like kiu nyuk, a Hakka dish of braised pork belly and yam, along with kuih sapit , peanut cookies, pineapple tarts and even Chinese decorations.
According to her, the night market that runs from sundown to midnight for just one day each year and draws thousands of people, is a big income earner for the family, bringing in in one night what she earns in a month from her daily fruit and vegetable stall usually.
Ah Soon, as she is known, is one of many hawkers who are losing out on would-be Chinese New Year business following the Covid-19 pandemic and the movement control order (MCO) that prohibits the annual market, which would have been held this week.
This year, with the restrictions in place, she has also taken to putting her signature dish online, using platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Instagram, where her nieces and nephews help to monitor and market her wares.
“It’s not the same, but what choice do we have?” she said.
To make up for the loss, she opened up a smaller stall on the sidewalk of Foh Sang, a suburb just outside the city of mostly Chinese that hosts a very popular event every year except this year.
The stall sells a variety of cookies, but none of the usual other festive must-haves like her kiu nyuk, sea cucumber, pomelo leaves, nian gao, flowers like pussy willow and mandarin trees, young bamboo plants, lanterns and sometimes even fireworks.
“It’s too risky to bring those in this year, because if you can’t sell them, then die-lah,” she said.
As the government announced the reopening of the retail sector and, along with it, dining-out options for restaurants and eateries, Ah Soon said she felt a small surge in business last night as customers came for their first meal out in almost a month and attempted to do some last minute shopping.
“Of course, with more people coming out to eat, business will pick up. It’s nowhere near what we would have made in the past years though,” she said.
In the state capital of Sabah, roads and commercial areas are much busier compared to the weeks before, as some people embark on last minute shopping of clothes, decorations, foodstuff and more.
In a survey by Malay Mail, shop owners are grateful for the potential business and festive opportunities ahead of the long weekend but feel that the eleventh hour decision would mean that it could not maximise on the Lunar New Year shopping spree.
“We are quite happy to be able to open, even though we are not sure it is safe. But we don’t want to lose out on the Chinese New Year shopping spree, which is among the busiest times of the year,” said a store manager of a popular international clothing brand in Imago Shopping Mall here.
He said that there was a surprising number of shoppers in the mall for a weekday, given the short notice from the government that the retail sector could open.
Malls like Imago, 1Borneo and Suria Sabah have put up the bare minimum Chinese New Year decorations, if any, but shoppers have seemed somewhat eager to get into the festive mood.
People were seen shopping for clothes, shoes, make-up and accessories, and household items while some said they were just window shopping.
Some shops are faring better than others in terms of sales, but everyone surveyed said that there has definitely been an increase of shoppers in the malls in the last two days since all shops were allowed to open.
Meanwhile, restaurants and eateries are relieved to be opening ahead of the weekend, and said that they have had a slow but decent response from dine-in customers.
“Many have told us they missed dining out and couldn’t wait for the restaurants to open again during the past weeks.
“However some of our regulars have also expressed concern, saying that they didn’t want to take any health risks,” said a shop owner of a dim sum restaurant who only wanted to be known as Lai.
Although eateries are restricted to two people per table, almost all restaurants in commercial areas in Kota Kinabalu were seen with dine-in customers, although even during lunch, the crowds were thin.
“For us, it is still slow. We had adapted to the MCO and went through really dry times last year. Then we began to adapt to the takeaway culture so I think many people have gotten used to it.
Now we are fed up with the ups and downs. Hopefully we will go back to the new normal soon,” said Tan, a coffee shop owner in Penampang near here.
“It is only the first day, so I think people are not sure yet. But I also know that many are just relieved to be able to fully open their business again. It’s just not the same,” he said.
A regular of Tan’s coffeeshop, Simon David Chin said he was happy to be able to have his usual kon lou mein breakfast over a chat with his friends again, after resorting to takeaways and random sidewalk chatter over the last few weeks.
He is sat with one friend at a table which normally can fit four people comfortably, while another friend is sat at the adjacent table nearby, where they chat idly for a few hours.
“I am a little worried about getting infected, but at my age, you just want to enjoy life. Relax and see friends… we are old now and there is no point worrying all the time about what could happen,” said Chin.
The easing of standard operating procedures was expected to get a welcome response, as business owners and eateries had pleaded with the government to allow all sectors to open to be able to sell their Chinese New Year stock or make a decent living.
The government had implemented a second MCO on January 14 after new Covid-19 cases began spiking, reaching unprecedented levels.