It still came as a shock when my husband told me that one of his mates had lost his job. I know him and his family. My first thought was his two teenage school-going children, who should be off to university in a few years. My mind was in a tailspin. I was full of questions.

How is he going to manage? What’s happened to the multinational company he was working for? Surely, it must have on-going and new projects? No? Yes? Can he get another job? Where? Here in Malaysia? Overseas? How? He can’t fly to another country as our borders are closed as are the borders of other countries? Even if he could go overseas, is there work? The saving grace is he has two months to work out his notice. In that time, hopefully, he gets another placement.

A few weeks earlier, staff at one of the restaurants we frequent shared with us that senior management had to take a 20% pay cut. With customers dwindling and earnings dipping below breakeven, this was a desperate interim measure by the owner. The serving staff is still receiving their full salaries but working on shifts. Two of the managers also have two young school-going children. A 20% haircut, while certainly not as bad or traumatic as losing one’s job, is a huge blow as their lives and monthly expenditure remain somewhat unchanged. The family is the same size. Mum, dad and two youngsters. You can’t downsize the family by 20%. This is real life. Not a movie where 20% of the family gets deleted or eliminated to make up for the short fall.

Many others are in similar predicaments. It was reported that as at October, there were nearly 90,000 job losses – averaging 10,000 cases each month. Worst hit was the manufacturing sector, followed by the accommodation, and food and beverage industry and the retail industry[1].

For the restaurant owner, who has been losing money for the past few months, it was and is a hard choice between keeping the doors open and staff employed or shutting-up, cutting losses and hopefully reopening when the economy picks-up with a vaccine in place. Both difficult options and with no definite timeframes. Through this uncertainty, the expenses and activities remain status-quo. Rent, utilities, salaries, buying fresh produce, tie-ups with delivery platforms and promotions via social media carry on. In addition, face masks, temperature scanners and sanitisers have to be purchased to comply with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Another expense.  

Meanwhile, a total of 32,469 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ceased operations between March and September – following the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and its subsequent variants to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia[2].

Covid-19. MCOs. Economic slowdown. Business losses or closures. Loss of jobs or cut in salaries. People still need to eat and drink. How are families to cope and for how long? They still need to shop for groceries and necessities. Maybe cheaper food alternatives. Maybe more cooking and eating at home. Utilities still have to be paid. With more people working and/or staying at home, water and electricity bills are higher. Conversely, LRT and MRT, bus and e-hailing fares are lower together with petrol bills with less travelling. Education still has to continue. Mostly from home via e-learning. Availability of computers and laptops, and internet connectivity are on-going issues for many families.  As is creating a conducive learning and working environment for both children and parents.

To be fair, the Malaysian Government has and continues to implement several economic, financial and social assistance programmes to help people and businesses tackle this unprecedented and dire situation. Economic stimulus and recovery packages, cash transfers, tiered rebates based on electricity usage and free daily internet service have been made available.

Last April, banks granted a blanket six-month loan suspension. A further three-month loan moratorium has been extended to those who lost their jobs in 2020, and remain jobless. Those with pay cuts will be granted lower loan instalments matching their salary reduction. Other borrowers such as traders, hawkers, self-employed individuals and businesses can also make similar arrangements with their banks[3].

These measures are much welcomed and needed.  

That said, families with sick children and elderly parents still have to replenish their medicine supplies. Doctors’ and dentists’ appointments require money. Cooking gas tanks need to be bought. Sinking fund and maintenance fee for condominium dwellers are certain monthly or quarterly expenses. Quit rent comes around every six months. Cars, even those barely driven in the last nine months, and motorbikes require service. As do air-conditioners. Monthly subscriptions for services like mobile phones, broadband/Wifi, Astro, Netflix and news media have to be paid. The list goes on.