Survey finds more than half of S’wak women entrepreneur respondents lost income during MCO

Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah

KUCHING (Feb 11): Slightly more than half of women entrepreneurs in Sarawak who were recently surveyed on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have lost their income, said Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

The Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister said out of the 415 respondents, 56.4 per cent had lost their income during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.

She said the survey also found that only 0.72 per cent of the respondents were earning above RM5,000 during the said period.

“Women entrepreneurs have also been found to lack awareness on registering their business which is the basic knowledge in establishing a business,” Fatimah said.

The survey found that 51 per cent of Sarawak women entrepreneurs did not register their business.

It resulted in them failing to apply for business assistance and business financing was limited, Fatimah said.

The survey has also found that 64 per cent of Sarawak women entrepreneurs were married and 26 per cent are single mothers.

“These are the two largest categories in terms of marital status in the survey and show that our women entrepreneurs hold two major responsibilities in their lives,” she said.

Fatimah urged women entrepreneurs to acquire new ways of doing business by going digital for everyday transactions to improve their livelihood.

The Dalat assemblywoman said the impact from the pandemic was not all bad because there are indeed some positive outcomes of it.

Online businesses have mushroomed and volunteerism and social-consciousness has surfaced in full force to help the needy, Fatimah said.

“Families get to be together most times, parents are totally involved with their children, new economic opportunities are brought about by those who are digitally savvy, less traffic are on the roads as most people limit their movement, bringing about cleaner air for the environment, and people learn new skills or unearth their hidden talents.”

“It is important to remain connected to family and friends and improve our lifestyle in physical, social, spiritual, environmental, occupational and financial wellness in the new normal of the pandemic,” she stressed.

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