Three months of Covid-19 lockdown have been too great a blow. He is closing the shop after choosing not to renew the lease. But in the meantime, he is still waiting for the green light to reopen his cobbler stand.
He has spent most of the lockdown resting at home. Some customers have called up seeking urgent repairs for their footwear but these calls are few in between. Ali told FMT he could just earn a meagre RM300 in a month from these requests. And that is if he gets that many calls.
A father of five, Ali has been forced to dip heavily into his savings to pay house rent and meet the family’s cost of living. His wife has also been without any income since the lockdown.
Fortunately, his eldest daughter helps chip in from her salary to cover the family’s expenses, while government handouts and other aid measures have also helped tide over the times.
“But it can be said that I’ve lost my lifeline,” referring to his savings which were close to being depleted. “Hopefully we’ll be allowed to reopen soon. If I can work, even though just on the streets, it’s sufficient to bear our cost of living. If I have no work at all, then it’s very difficult,” he said.
Putrajaya has allowed 11 more economic activities in states under Phase 1 of the national recovery plan to resume since Monday. Clothing, fashion and accessory shops are included, but there is confusion whether cobblers may also do so.
Another cobbler, who wanted to only be known as Maulana, said he resorted to various jobs in the past three months, including working for a food delivery platform, a courier company and even just helping people sell food.
“Whatever I can do, I’ll do. It’s not enough, but I have to. Luckily for me, my wife is working in a clinic. So that helps to support the family. But if it was just me alone, then it would be worse,” said the father of a one-year-old.
The 29-year-old owns and operates a humble shop in Petaling Jaya on his own, but he may be forced to close it down if current conditions persist.
He reopened his shop in the middle of this week after being told he was allowed to while waiting for the international trade and industry ministry’s letter, but there have been very few customers coming in.
“Before the MCO in May, we could still open. But even then there were very few customers. Which means now, business will be as slow, if not worse,” he said, citing the high number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
He told FMT that he worked as a streetside cobber after secondary school, and opened his own shop last year. Despondent, he said he was not sure how much longer he could sustain the business.
“I have some regular customers, so I’ve been depending on them alone. If they announce an MCO again, I might close shop. If I’m forced to close, I’ll probably just be a lorry driver. That’s one job that doesn’t seem to be affected by lockdowns,” he quipped with a laugh.
“We understand that cases are high, but the economy is important also. I might not die of Covid-19, but I might die out of starvation,” he added.
Nonetheless, he was grateful for the Prihatin grants for small- and medium-sized enterprises, saying he had been given RM5,000 in total which has helped lighten his burden and pay off some of his costs.
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