SIBU, May 14: Hawkers at Taman Harmoni food court at Jalan Awang Ramli Amit, like any other eatery centres, can now resume dine-in service during this Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
While they need to follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) as set by the government if they opt to accept customers to dine in, the hawkers at this popular food court offering local Malay delicacies such as fried rice, Ayam Penyet, BBQ chicken and a host of others, prefer to maintain takeaway service and sell their food on e-bazaars during the Ramadan season.
Of the 50 stalls, 45 of them are dealing in food and drink while the remaining five sell various mechandise.
According to the food court traders’ committee chairman Abdul Taib Rosli, the decision to continue takeaway service and e-bazaar had already been decided by the hawkers.
As dine-in service was not allowed during the first four phases of the MCO, the hawkers there, besides doing takeaway, had also turned to using digital platforms to deliver their orders to their customers.
These include Foodpanda, Facebook, WhatsApp and COD (cash on delivery) platforms. As business has been good since using this platform, they wanted to keep to the status quo during this Ramadan.
“We will only resume dine-in service after the Hari Raya celebration. When that time comes, we will observe the SOP,” he said.
One of the hawkers, Mohamad Aznam concurred with his chairman.
“Our chairman said using the digital platform is the best option during this Ramadan. We all agreed with him and are sticking to it,” he said.
“It is not necessary for us to rush to fully open our stall as customers can make their order with us through online applications,” said a woman hawker, Nurhidayah Fairus.
She added that through this platform, there is no crowding at the foodcourt.
“After they have placed their order online, we will immediately prepare for the food. When they come, they will just pay for it and leave,” she said. —DayakDaily
