Kitchenware seller hopes for MCO exemption

CORONAVIRUS | The government has been urged to allow kitchenware stores to remain open during the movement control order (MCO) to support the food industry.

Eddie Chia, the general manager of kitchenware and utensils chain store SWC Enterprise, said eateries need food and drink packaging materials for delivery or takeaway services.

He said his company, which has 20 outlets, has not been allowed to operate by the local authorities and the police as they do not deem the business to be an essential service.

"We wrote to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (to seek permission to operate during the MCO), but there's no reply yet.

"We sell plastic bags, lunch boxes, hygienic cups, straws, single-use paper plates and cutleries. We have commercial kitchenware and its accessories, and we can cater to the needs of Malaysians who now stay at home and cook their own food.

"How is it that we are not a business that sells essential goods or a supporting business to essential services?" Chia asked.

He claimed that during the MCO period, people are knocking on the doors of his now-shuttered shops, hoping to buy food and drink packaging products.

When contacted, SME Association of Malaysia president Michael Kang agreed that the kitchenware and household chain stores should be considered an essential or at least a supporting service.

However, he admitted that this was a grey area that the government has yet to decide on.

Kang, while expecting the MCO to be extended beyond April 14 given that China had locked down the city of Wuhan for 10 weeks, said the government would eventually have to relax the MCO and allow more businesses to operate.

He advised Chia and other supporting service providers to get in touch with the government to make their case.

Similarly, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi also urged the chain store to write to the ministry.

He said it is up to the National Security Council (MKN) to decide whether to grant an exemption for the company to operate during the MCO.

"He can write in and explain his nature of the business and then, if it is proven his service is important to availability of food, then maybe the decision can be made.

"(But) now the point is the government is really trying to lock the people down. So no movements, that's the purpose of the MCO," Alexander said when contacted. - Mkini