Poor response as cinemas throughout Kuching reopen after months of closure

Seats at one of the halls in mmCineplexes are marked to separate moviegoers in accordance with the new social distancing norms.

KUCHING: A cinema chain, mmCineplexes, received poor response for its first screening today after it reopened following months of closure due to the Movement Control Order to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Its Summer Mall branch only had four movie goers for the 11.40am screening of ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ while at Riverside Shopping Mall, there was nobody to be seen for the 11.40am ‘Rasuk 2’ show.

“I expect there will be more people in the afternoon, as not many know that we are reopening today,” said Summer Mall cinema manager Andria Jalin.

She said that the cinema was currently showing, ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’, ‘Rasuk 2’ and ‘Pee Nak 2’ which are reruns, priced at RM5 per ticket.

State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas on Wednesday announced that cinemas in Sarawak can reopen with immediate effect, but they must adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the state’s Local Government and Housing Ministry.

Following the announcement of the SOP, the cinema’s candy bar is not open at the moment, and movie goers are seated at least one meter apart. This means that all seats sold are single seats and couple seats are also turned into single seats, Andria explained.

Aside from that, patrons must also show their MyKad at the cinema entrance to ensure that they are above 12 and below 61-years-old, as it is one of the SOP, said Andria.

They will also have to wear face masks, have their temperature checked and contact details taken, and hands sanitised before they can enter. They must wear their face masks the entire time while inside the movie hall, she said.

Asked on preparations for reopening, Andria said that they have started preparations last month, by disinfecting the whole cinema and marking the seats and floors for social distancing.

Similarly, at its Riverside Shopping Centre branch, senior theater executive Madina Amalina said that only two movies are showing today, ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ and ‘Rasuk 2’.

“We have four halls, but we are only using two as we are only showing reruns at the moment.”

“It’s quite sad as we have yet to get any customers, maybe not many people know that we are open today, or that they’ve seen the movies we are offering.”

However, a check online on other cinemas operating in Kuching shows that they are all open today, and are all showing reruns.

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