For barbers, this is the most unkindest cut of all

ADUN SPEAKS | The government has come out with a decision to disallow barbershop, saloon and optometrist services to operates throughout the movement of control order (MCO) period. 

Over the weekend, there was a heated debate on the earlier move to include barber services as a permissible sector to reopen in the coming weeks and the uproar has led to the U-turn in government’s decision.

Netizens may applaud and felt triumphed that they managed to force the administration to back down from the previous decision. But sadly to me, the netizen failed to realise that their emotional and fear-driven arguments have caused - if I may quote a line from the famous play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare - the most unkindest cut of all.

Since the debate started on permitting barbershop to operate, I personally contacted my barber and conversed with him over the phone.

He owns a small barbershop under a residential flat on Lebuh Tuna in Seberang Jaya and I have been his loyal customer for six years. He is very professional, practices good hygiene and who will only take customers by appointment. He operates the joint with his younger brother and manages to earn up to RM5,000 per month before this Covid19 pandemic hits the country.

Since the beginning of the MCO, he obliged with the ruling and closed his barbershop. Now after four weeks, he has lost the monthly income that he uses to pay his shop rental, house rental and daily expenditure to fend his wife and a baby boy.

As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic does not only attack the health being of the rakyat, but also has caused nations to take extreme measures by stopping all business activities and restricts the citizen’s movements. Covid-19 has caused small traders like barbers to close shop and lose their daily income. The pandemic has weakened and stalled daily economic activities which is essential and crucial.

This pandemic led us to war against an invisible enemy. In any war, the first and the hardest hit are the low-income earners and those who run small businesses such as barbers.

As a doctor, I can’t deny the fact that MCO did help in our effort to combat Covid-19. However, we must also admit that MCO is not the answer to curb this pandemic. The very purpose of MCO is to flatten the curve and allow us to reduce the number of transmission of this virus - but not to eradicate it.

The endgame to our war against Covid-19 pandemic is when we develop the vaccine (which will be ready in 18 months) or herd immunity established against this novel virus.

I do not dare to suggest for the government to close down barbershops and small businesses for 18 months. Do kids have to stay at home and learn from online classes for 18 months? Do governments continue to pay full salary to majority civil servants while they “work from home” for the next 18 months? Do we stop entrepreneurs from returning to operation for 18 months and expect them to pay full salary to all their employees?

The very definition of health is not about treating the cumulative statistics of Covid-19 patients as what we religiously been following every day on national TV since the MCO started. Defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 

Making sure the economic resilience and sustainability of the rakyat are as paramount as to making sure the people are spared from contracting Covid-19. Efforts made by the government to find the economic remedies is to fulfil this very ideal goal of being healthy as a person, a community and as a nation.

In the first phase of MCO, few sectors that have been approved to operate are bounded to the same rules and SOP provided by the MOH in ensuring that health screening measures are implemented for the safety of employees and customers. In fact, these added service sectors are allowed to operate by phase with strict health care guidelines and movement controls.

Indeed the government has initiated well-benefited incentives for the SME entrepreneurs to bear the cost of productions and operations in the few months to come. But, we have to admit the fact that economic activity must resume in these unusual circumstances by adapting to the “new normal”.

Financial aid cannot solve the problem in the long run for the ill-affected service sectors such as haircut services and small business owners. They must be allowed to adopt the “new normal” the soonest and restart to earn. It is crucial for the government and every ministry to come out with the “new normal” approach in their respective sectors.

The most unkindest cut on these sectors is to deny them alternatives and any other measures that can help these entrepreneurs to adapt to the “new normal”. It will bring forth a detrimental effect in the long-run to the owners of those services, and also undermining the economic viability of the country which will lead to economic catastrophe.

A “new normal” approach does not only apply to those who just stay at home and hoping this pandemic ends sooner. Government and private sectors must make a bold decision on how to create a new approach in ensuring these sectors are kept alive and in the near future help to revitalise the country’s economic growth.

In that very phone call conversation with my barber, I asked him whether he can provide barber services during MCO. Immediately, he answered “Boleh sangat!” However, he did mention that he needed to understand and willing to learn the precautions and preventive measures to protect him from contracting the viruses. 

As long the guidelines by the experts are obtained, he is willing to provide a safe, hygienic barber service to customers. This way he can earn and help to sustain his family during this trying time.

In the past four weeks of MCO, we as a society have learnt a lot of “new normal” practices. We learnt social distancing, avoiding crowded places and even queuing up to enter a market. We are forced to stay at home and limit our outdoor routines. 

There are new ways of standing in elevators. We wear a mask and practice good hand hygiene. These are all the “new normal” that we have adopted. Now we have to continue to find and practice other “new normal” in order to carry on with our lives for the next year to come. Humanity survives time and time again due to our ability to adapt and make changes!

To all my friends out there; in the spirit of #kitajagakita, let’s put politics and our differences aside. The country needs every best minds and ideas to be put together to face this uphill battle of Covid-19 pandemic. 

This is not a popularity contest. This is a war that we must win on all fronts. Maju bersama!

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DR AFIF BAHARDIN is the Seberang Jaya state assemblyperson. - Mkini