About 2,000 of 12,000 Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) members have had to shut down operations during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the shortage of workers being one of the main reasons, according to Presma president Jawahar Ali Taib Khan.
Meanwhile, the number of Indian restaurants nationwide has fallen by almost 50% in the last two years from over 2,000 to about 1,000 now due to factors such as a shortage of workers and the rising cost of raw materials and rentals.
Jawahar said the collapse of the mamak restaurant business would trigger a chain reaction and cause the fall of related businesses.
“The mamak restaurant industry should not be seen as a standalone. If it collapses, other businesses such as the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from whom we get supplies of fish, poultry, ice and other goods will be affected too,” he told FMT.
During the pandemic, many foreign workers in the industry were unable to return to work in Malaysia when their working permits expired, so many mamak restaurants were operating with reduced manpower, especially since there is a freeze on the hiring of new workers.
Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association (Primas) president J Suresh agreed that the slowdown in the restaurant sector would result in a domino effect for other businesses.
“For example, chicken and goat farms, and factories that provide raw ingredients like curry powder and oil will be affected,” he told FMT.
Besides the lack of manpower, he said, many Indian restaurants were struggling, having to cope with the rising cost of raw ingredients, rental, utilities and loan repayments.
“Many of Primas’ members who have multiple restaurants have had to close down some of their outlets due to a shortage of labour,” he said.
Jawahar said they had held talks with the home ministry and the human resources ministry about the need to bring in foreign workers but that they had been told “to be patient”.
“We don’t know how much longer we’ll have to wait, but we hope it will be sooner,” he said.