Just a regular life will do

 

One day soon, hopefully: Malaysians are hoping they will be able to eat at their favourite shop and that kids would be able to enjoy the outdoors like they used to. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Forget about flying off overseas for holidays, all that most people in Malaysia who are fully vaccinated want to be able to do is drive beyond 10km from their homes and eat at their favourite mamak restaurant or kopitiam.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently said the government would decide this week at the National Recovery Plan (NRP) meeting on whether to ease restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals.

Based on interviews by The Star, dining in, inter-district travel and outdoor kids’ activities came out tops on the wishlist of things those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 hope to be able to do soon.

Banker Harris Latif, 25, said that those who received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine should be allowed to dine in at restaurants, which were limited to only providing takeaways and deliveries from 6am to 10pm during the current Phase One of the NRP.

“For dining in, there is a ventilation issue because the Covid-19 Delta variant is airborne, so they should look into allowing restaurants that have outdoor seating to operate. I do miss going to the mamak.

“In my opinion, interstate travel should be put on hold first because the vaccination rate is not the same for every state, so there should not be a blanket rule imposed.

“Meanwhile, inter-district travel restrictions should be relaxed a bit,” said Harris, who was fully vaccinated.

Under Phase One of the NRP, only two people from each household can leave the house to buy basic essentials within a 10km radius, while interstate and inter-district travel is still prohibited.

Tax consultant Daniela Fadhlan, 25, concurred with relaxing restrictions on inter-district travel but preferred for the ban to not be lifted yet, even for those who were fully vaccinated.

“I also think we should vaccinate whole households instead of individuals. It doesn’t make much sense that only a few individuals within one house are vaccinated while the rest are still not.

“As for interstate and overseas travel, I don’t think it is safe to do so right now. We should at least reach herd immunity first,” said Daniela, who also expressed concerns about the latest Covid-19 Lambda variant that was currently dominant in South America.

Daniela is among the almost five million people or about 14% of the Malaysian population who are fully vaccinated as at yesterday.

IT professional Smrithi SM, 31, an Indian national, said although she missed being able to return to her home country, which she used to be able to do twice a year before Covid-19 struck, international travel should not be allowed yet.

“I don’t want the country’s borders to open without safety being in order. But interstate travel should be allowed. It has been so long.

“It would be nice to travel to Penang or Pulau Langkawi for a holiday,” she said.

Smrithi, who has a four-year-old son, added that children should be allowed to do outdoor activities as staying indoors was tough on their mental constitution and growth.

“At this age, we want them to explore and in this period of growth, staying indoors is very hard,” she added.

Under Phase One of the NRP, children below 12 years old are not allowed in public areas except during an emergency, for medical purposes, education or to exercise.

Senior citizen Ray Teoh, 71, said that he wished he could have breakfast with his friends at the kopitiam and see his two grandchildren in Johor Baru whom he has not seen for seven months now.

“We have been staying inside for so long and I have been fully vaccinated for over a month, but life is still restricted. I hope something will change soon once people are vaccinated.

“Forget about international travel, it is really a pity that I can’t even go to my favourite coffeeshop near my house.” he said. - Star