CMCO another nightmare for business operators

KOTA KINABALU: As the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) is imposed in Tuaran following its Covid-19 red zone classification, business operators are hoping for positive recoveries.

Some are moving into virtual business as it is the only option at the moment, but many hurdles are coming into the picture.

Richard

Richard Michael, Operations Director of Asia Ability dan Ability Expeditions admitted that the first introduction of Movement Control Order (MCO) had badly affected the business.

“We had a lot of cancellations and it literally paralyzed our business.

“We gained momentum in August and September, but things got sour at the beginning of October after the number of positive cases in Sabah increased drastically at the end of September.

“We have no choice, but to close our business, again, because we want to support the government in their effort to curb the spread of the infamous virus.

“It is painful to see some of your colleagues have to go on unpaid leave and even salary cut. But we still feel that we are lucky enough to be able to survive the first wave, let’s hope this will pass soon and we are able to live our normal life,” he said.

Ability Expeditions is currently facing a total ‘blackout’ as the company is running expeditions worldwide, depending mostly on physical activities.

Richard, who is the person behind Zip Borneo in Rangalau Kiulu said it was one of the tourism products under the company, that have been attracting international schools coming to Sabah for team-building events.

Some of the facilities at Zip Borneo in Rangalau Kiulu, which is popular among schools holding team-building events.

Meanwhile, Asia Ability is another company under his care, that is currently on survival mode, depending on the virtual world to continue their struggle in the business.

“Together with our global partner, Catalyst Global, we started our virtual team building in March during the first MCO.

“Moving forward virtual or remote is the answer at the moment because we obviously have no idea how and when this pandemic will end.

“But looking at the positive side, with our experience in team building, we hope we can provide something to the private or government institutions by offering our virtual service,” he said.

Anne

Meanwhile, Director of Chanteek Borneo, Anne Antah is taking the opportunity to enhance their branding of ‘Kain Chanteek’ through social media, as she believed many Sabahans will spend more time online during this period.

“We do online product preview everyday on weekdays, Monday to Friday for at least 20 to 30 minutes, talking about different topics every day. We sell online via our website and WhatsApp.

“Since we have e-dagang trading license, we are still operating, but we do not open for public,” she said.
Chanteek Borneo’s in-house brand – Kain Chanteek, carries a wide range of ready stock textiles of the Kadazandusun, Murut and Rungus; suitable for fashion-wear not only during festive celebration but for office-wear and casual-wear too.

Each of Kain Chanteek collection were designed to reflect the richness and the uniqueness of Sabah ethnicities.

Kain Chanteek

Located in Tuaran, one of the districts that has been declared as a red zone, Anne is currently struggling with her online marketing as the company’s projected sales dropped due to the cancellation of events.

Apart from cancelled events, the CMCO also resulted in some shipping companies stop sending goods, including materials for Kain Chanteek, which are currently stuck in Klang – another district declared a red zone.

“My materials got stuck in Klang, my production was badly affected by 50 per cent, many orders were postponed, customers are unable to cross the district to collect their booking… yes, the company is badly affected.

“I believe other companies are also facing the same problem, so, my suggestion is… let business operate with standard operating procedure (SOP). Because if business closes, many people will be affected and the economy will collapse.

“I believe all businesses are essential because no single business can exist on its own. Business eco-system depends on each other to keep on running,” she said.

With proper SOP, Anne said the authority can give guidelines to the business operators, which will force the public to comply.

It should be a specific SOP for business, as the current SOP is too general for the public, she said.

“Another suggestion that I want the government to consider, is to actively do a Buy Local Products campaign to ensure the cash flow around our state or country.

“The government needs to do something, to encourage local buying and avoid overseas online shopping,” she added.

Three days ago, the federal government has agreed to enforce the CMCO in Sandakan, Papar and Tuaran in Sabah and Klang, from October 9 after the four areas were newly classified as red zones, as they had more than 40 Covid-19 positive cases.

The implementation of CMCO is believed to curb the spread of the virus in the districts as well as to enable targeted case tracking activities to be carried out over a period of 14 days.

Movement in and out of the four CMCO areas is not allowed, except for essential services including factories and related chains.

As of yesterday, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Sabah stood at 3,565 with 274 new cases and six deaths.

Sabah is currently at the top of the list of cases in Malaysia.

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