AFTER having to close their restaurant during the movement control order (MCO) period, husband- and-wife team Rosnizam Ishak and Roazian Md Noor (pic) were very worried as their source of livelihood had come to a halt.
The only foreseeable incoming money was the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) cash aid which the government had announced in March as part of its RM260bil Prihatin economic stimulus package.
Armed with RM1,000 and restaurant-operating experience, the couple used the BPN money to start a marinated lamb delivery business.
Operating from their house in Bertam, Penang, they started with just 5kg of orders a day. With some social media savvy, business slowly picked up and at its peak, they were fulfilling daily orders of up to 100kgs (at RM55 per kg).
Their business – run fully online via WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram – was eventually able to build a network of delivery partners and hire workers to help with the marinating and packing.
Further south in Melaka Tengah, single mother Siti Hartika Shaari, 32, lost her job as a chef when her employer was unable to pay her salary during the MCO – a common challenge amongst business owners. For several days, Siti Hartika was only able to provide plain porridge for her 11-year old son.
Having had to dip into her savings and with finances getting tight, Siti Hartika received her BPN payment on April 10.
She decided to invest the money into a fresh produce cleaning service. Every morning by 5am, she would purchase fresh produce – fish, chicken, squid, crab or prawns – from the local market, and upon returning home, she would gut and clean the fish, chicken, squid, crab or prawns for her customers.
Using just WhatsApp, Siti Hartika was able to grow her business from just eight orders a day to up to 40 orders and can earn up to RM2,000 daily. Having initially started the business with her cousin, they eventually hired three workers as well as four runners who send the orders throughout Melaka.
A collective effort
Despite the adversity they faced, both Rosnizam and wife, as well as Siti Hartika, were able to turn their fortunes around.
Motivated by the need to survive in these tough times and provide for their loved ones, an entrepreneurial spirit emerged.
On top of that, their efforts were facilitated by the ubiquity of private-sector technology (both were running fully online businesses) and government assistance (in this case, both used BPN cash aid as startup capital).
If not for the coming together of the human spirit – private-sector technology-government assistance – their stories might have been wholly different. They were able to not just provide for their own livelihoods, but also create jobs for others.
Theirs are some of many inspiring stories that have emerged during these tough times.
Staying vigilant
By now, we have heard a lot about how Covid-19 is a threat to not just our lives but also our livelihoods. That said, the unprecedented global nature of Covid-19 means we are yet to witness its full brunt on our economies.
According to the Statistics Department of Malaysia, the unemployment rate for March 2020 was 3.9% (or about 610,000 workers), which is the highest since June 2010. Depending on which organisation you ask, Malaysia’s unemployment rate could be anywhere between 900,000 (Statistics Department) to over two million (Malaysian Institute of Economic Research) by end-2020 because of Covid-19.
That is a whole lot of jobs. However, this is a predicament that is being faced globally.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a deterioration of working hours, equivalent to 305 million full-time jobs, is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2020. This is up from a previous estimate of 195 million full-time jobs.
In the United States, the unemployment rate stands at 40 million – a figure not seen since The Great Depression. The exacerbation of the situation has led to the United Nations labeling those impacted as the “Lockdown Generation”.
Staying resilient: what inspires you?
While the numbers and estimations tell a harrowing story, we cannot give up.
We can keep unemployment numbers low and save jobs, while also saving lives and protecting health – provided we come together.
I am inspired by the #KitaJagaKita campaign. It is a reminder that we can help our fellow Malaysians (and non-Malaysians) who are in need because we are blessed with an abundance of food, clothes, and shelter options.
I am heartened to see well-known figures from the private sector offering to use their social media reach to advertise for jobs and to connect job seekers. Tech companies are also doing their best to enable micro-businesses to sell their wares online and to a global audience.
At the same time, government assistance such as the BPN has helped over 10.5 million Malaysians. The loan payment moratorium by banks provide cashflow ease to millions of borrowers (to the tune of RM100bil), while programmes such as the Employee Retention Programme (RM240mil), Wage Subsidy (RM13.8bil) and Geran Khas Prihatin (RM2.1bil) will play a role in helping businesses stay afloat.
As at May 17, over 10.25 million (or approximately 67%) of Malaysia’s workforce has returned to work under the conditional MCO. Everyone is doing their best to achieve some semblance of normalcy, financial security and livelihood in this “new normal”. Workers in the 23 prohibitive list-industries are patiently waiting their opportunity.
Yes, jobs will be lost and businesses will close. Nevertheless, the measure of whether we succeed or fail in this war against Covid-19 is not in the peak of job-loss or business-closure, but rather our ability to bounce back and rise after the fall.
If there is anything the Rosnizams and Hartikas of this nation have shown us, it is that we are more resilient than we realise. There will be ups and downs, but always remember that we are in this together.
By Danial Rahman