Referring to the “white flag” community initiative to help needy people during the lockdown, the Bumiputra Retailers Organization said while a majority of retailers had accepted the need for an enhanced movement control order(EMCO), they questioned the manner in which it was carried out.
Its president, Ameer Ali Mydin, said lockdowns should only be imposed “where necessary, with other retailers allowed to operate and survive”.
Ameer said retailers did not want a situation where retailers would need to hoist white flags to signal that they needed help.
He added that retailers would not want to resort to such measures unnecessarily.
“But if this continues, you might be seeing flags all over the place, with desperate retailers asking for help,” he said at a joint press conference with other retail associations.
Also present were representatives from the Malaysian Shopping Malls Association (PPK), Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Malaysian Retail Chain Association (MRCA), Malaysian REIT Managers Association (MRMA) as well as Malaysian Association of Themeparks and Family Attractions.
The white flag or #BenderaPutih campaign calls on people needing assistance to raise a white cloth outside their home to signal for help.
PPK president Teo Chiang Kok said they felt they were being “punished” despite efforts taken by the industry to flatten the curve.
“We are in dire straits at the moment for the wrong reasons. We don’t deserve to be in this position,” he said in calling for the retail sector to be allowed to operate by July 15 or when the 10% vaccination target is achieved.
Citing data from the health ministry, Teo reiterated that the retail and shopping sector, including those outside malls, had contributed merely 0.8% of all cases in May 2021.
Shopping malls, he said, were strict in enforcing SOPs, adding that they barred entry to customers whose temperature readings exceeded 37.5 Celsius.
Malls, he added, were a “green bubble” on their own.
“So please reward those who have been diligently adhering to the SOPs — let us open,” he said, adding that they would have no qualms if action was taken against those flouting the rules.
MRMA chairman Hisham Othman said the call for the government to re-open the retail sector had nothing to do with saving the lives of towkays.
He said “a million” workers were involved directly in the retail sector and many more so indirectly.
“Most of them are in the M40 and B40 groups. So come on, why make life more difficult when we have a chance to open up an important sector of the economy?”