Stick to your guns on early closing hours, says CAP

 

Mohideen Abdul Kader says people have been conditioned to eat nasi kandar in the wee hours of the morning, adding that this led to health problems. (Facebook pic)

GEORGE TOWN: While restaurant owners and even working people are asking that the opening hours for food outlets be extended, a local consumers association is asking the government to stick to its guns over its early closing time policy.

Consumers’ Association of Penang president Mohideen Abdul Kader wants the early closing hours not only during the movement control order (MCO) but even after the pandemic is brought under control.

He has other reasons for his stand. Mohideen said most Malaysians have been conditioned over the years to eat around the clock, as more and more eateries are open 24 hours a day.

He said the early closing time will help develop healthier eating habits in the long run.

Mohideen Abdul Kader.

“While I think the current 8pm cut-off should be extended by an hour to 9pm, the early cut-off time is a good measure. We have seen people eating nasi kandar in the wee hours of the morning before.

“An early closing time will condition people to tapau (takeaway) early, eat on time or better yet, eat healthier home-cooked meals instead.

“Our number of diabetes, heart attack and high blood pressure cases are all linked to poor eating habits. The government must put peoples’ health first,” he told FMT.

Mohideen said late-night meals have been linked to weight gain by experts and in developed countries, eateries close early.

He said the current time-limit could be an early form of intervention and the authorities should use this opportunity to review and reflect on the policies of having 24-hour eateries.

Mohideen said the economic cost of having an unhealthy population was real.

“More hospitals need to be built, more doctors need to be trained, in tandem with the rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), costing the country more money.

“Furthermore, treating NCDs has become more expensive over the years. We feel all local councils should stop handing out 24-hour eatery licences and the federal government should set a policy on this,” he said.

Mohideen said the late-night eating habit had inadvertently pushed diabetes numbers in the country, with the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey showing one in five adults or about 3.9 million people aged 18 years and above in Malaysia, suffer from diabetes.

He said when compared to 1960, the chance of one getting diabetes was 1% to 2% compared to 18.3% in 2019.

Mohideen said with the World Health Organization noting in 2016 that 4,710 Malaysians had died due to diabetes and a further 13,150 were dying due to high levels of blood glucose, it was cause for concern.

“The deaths caused by diabetes are greater in number than those from Covid-19.”

Yesterday, the government said it would consider extending the opening hours to 10pm, due to working folk being unable to get their food on time with the 8pm restriction. - FMT