WITH Deepavali just around the corner, nothing could be more exciting for many Hindus than doing last-minute shopping at Little India in George Town.
This year, however, the scenario has taken a different tone.
Maya Silk owner K. Rajendar, 68, said following the reintroduction of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) effective from today till Dec 6, it has made a huge impact on his business.
“The last few days before the festivity are the most crucial period for businesses, because this is the time when last-minute shoppers come out in droves.
“We have customers not only from the island but also from the mainland and as far as from Sungai Petani. They are now unable to come here for shopping due to the CMCO.
“Thus, our stock will definitely get stuck and we still have to make payment for it Now, we cannot do anything about it and have just to face situation.
“It is certainly tough, not only for me but for other traders as well,” said Rajendar when the Buletin Mutiara team met him at his shop today.
According to Rajendar, prior to the implementation of CMCO, the business was also affected and now it has worsened.
“As of yesterday, we still had customers but it was not like how we used to have in the previous years. The pandemic has really affected us economically.
“Perhaps, times would get better in 2021. I am just trying to stay optimistic; we have to wait and see how things go,” said Rajendar.
Sharing a similar plight, seasonal trader M. Anbukarasan, 33, who sells cookies, hopes for the best even though the circumstances seem bleak.
“It is quite scary when I think of my stock of biscuits. I cannot return them to my supplier and I have to try hard to ‘sell them off’.
“People have opted not to come out often due to the fear of the virus and now with the roadblocks, I see a huge drop in the number of visitors to Little India.
“Whether we are big or small traders, everyone is feeling the pinch now due to the CMCO.
“The peak period for a festive sale is always the final week and here we are in a state of sluggishness, ” said Anbukarasan.
Anbukarasan said he agreed that with the rise of Covid-19 cases, it is good that the CMCO has been imposed but it could have been done with some consideration.
“The Federal Government could have pre-planned some strategies, or could have informed earlier on the CMCO so that it would not have affected the traders for Deepavali.
“We would not have brought in so much of stock if we knew that this would happen.
“I too believe that public health and safety are much more important than a celebration but the CMCO came without a warning,” added Anbukarasan.
Meanwhile, a trader from ‘Devis Mixture’ who would like to be known only as Devi, said she had actually anticipated the CMCO.
“Daily my daughter, who is a nurse, would share with me on the whereabouts of the Covid-19 cases.
“So based on that, we as a family has this feeling that it will take a longer time for us to contain the spread of the virus – definitely not within this year.
“For this year, I am still selling the usual items such as ‘laddoo’, candy, ‘palkova’, ‘athirasam’, ‘jilebi’, ‘boonthi’, ‘halwa’, ‘neei urundei’, ‘rava urundei’, and many others but have reduced the quantity,” said Devi.
Devi also said this year her stall, which sells Indian snacks, would be only open for a week unlike in previous years when it was opened for more than two weeks or a month.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud