Ulog #244: Covid19 has suspended my Catering Business

Here are some updates on what's going on here in Malaysia and the situations I'm faced with my business.

As of now we're in the 4th day of the lockdown of restriction of movement here in Malaysia and my business is really under pressure. It hasn't been great for the past 3-4 years here for the economy but now with the Covid19 situation, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse.

All my caterings for the next month are suspended and or cancelled and the next 3 months bookings are pending as of the virus situation.

(picture from last year's catering for BMW Motorrad Event)

Yesterday we had to close our food truck and made some last minute changes to do our own deliveries from our central kitchen. It's so much more hassle to do it as we are a small team consisting of 3 people, including myself, which we are just scrambling to somehow get orders to our customers.

We've only gotten orders from our immediate friends which have kept us afloat for 1 day at least. Really really grateful for all the orders and today we're doing another delivery.

With the clamp down of more police and even the army now being deployed to function as an extra arm of the police force, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up. Fellow Malaysians have contributed to this happening because people were still hanging out and going about their daily activities such as grocery shopping and eating with friends.

Because a majority of Malaysians aren't actually on social media or have any news inlets, some are really oblivious to what's been happening around the world and in our country. I even heard of a rickshaw rider that only speaks the Hokkien dialect and broken Malay, thought that business and the economy was very bad cause the streets were empty until a reported spotted him and asked what was he doing out.

In this period of time, as one that is really being threaten by this virus not physically but in terms of finance, I want to say that we need to be understanding to one another more than ever, and to exercise more grace towards each other in this time of global trial. Nothing is forever and nothing is certain in this world and take this time to reflect and seek for what lies after.