PETALING JAYA: Neighbourhood hawkers were grateful to be allowed to continue their businesses during the Movement Control Order (MCO) despite the limited operating hours between 6am and 8pm.
The Roasted Chicken Damansara branch manager, who only wanted to be known as Hidayah, said the food truck continued to get a steady flow of customers during the period.
"We sold up to 60 birds daily for the past two days," she said, adding that the roast chicken was priced at RM16 per bird.
She added that before the MCO, the food truck was opened until 10pm.
Burger seller Mohd Kosim Ismail, 30, said his business ran from 2pm until 8pm during the MCO.
"My regular customers continue to come, along with new customers.
"I also get bulk orders from individuals, who ask us to send or donate the burgers to those in need.
"Alhamdulillah, business has been very good for me despite the MCO."
He said he could earn between RM1,500 and RM2,000 daily.
Thirty-year-old Anawati Omrah, who sells churros, said she, too, was thankful that customers continued supporting her business.
When met at her food truck here, Anawati was busy making a new batch of churros.
"A customer bought all the churros just now."
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in announcing the MCO on Monday, said restaurants and hawker stalls in states under the MCO were only allowed to sell takeaways.
Penang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan, Melaka, Johor and Sabah were placed under the MCO until Jan 26.
But for Zolkefli Jaffar, 60, and others like him, whose business premises were closed, the MCO is a trying period.
Zolkefli owns and runs a small boutique selling new and used clothes, shoes, bags and other apparel and accessories in Keramat.
"I set up this small business five years ago after retiring from a multinational company, where I worked as a clerk for nearly 40 years.
"For the first three years or so, business was not brisk but I could make between RM50 and RM200 a day in sales, although there were days when I had to close shop and go home empty handed.
"Early last year, when I had to close shop for almost four months during the first MCO, there was the moratorium period when I did not have to pay my shop's rent for six months. But even then, because there was no income, I exhausted my savings just to get by.
"I am hoping that this time, a moratorium will also be offered. That would be a big burden off my shoulders.
"I'm having sleepless nights as the shop is my only source of income.
"With it closed and almost nothing left in my savings, the future looks bleak," said the widower in front of his shuttered shop.
"I can't open my shop, I have no children or family, that's why I'm here."
Paul Hondell, 47, an auto detailing shop owner, was also worried about what the future holds for him.
He had been running his shop for close to a decade in Petaling Jaya, but was forced to close because of the MCO.
"My overheads are quite high as I spend a five-figure sum every month for the shop's rental, the house rental for the staff, the staff's salaries, utility bills and other expenses.
"While a moratorium will ease the financial burden, my debts have been mounting since early last year when this virus struck. This is because my shop was closed for months and I was left without an income."
A hairstylist, who only wished to be known as Madam Yee, said with the virus "still wreaking havoc", she was left with no choice but to close down her salon.
"Running a business is fraught with challenges and obstacles and this is understandable, but having to close for months on end is unprecedented. After the first MCO, I took a hit financially, and even though I was able to reopen, there just wasn't enough to recover.
"I may close the shop for good, which is sad because I've had it for almost two decades."