Prime Minister Tan Sri Muyhiddin made the announcement for the extension of the Movement Control Order this week, which would mean Malaysians will be stuck at home for another 2 weeks. Making the MCO enacted in the country to curb the spread of Covid 19, to now 2 months.

By staying at home, we will be helping the break the chain and prevent the virus from spreading in the community. These are methods introduced to keep people safe and prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed. The MCO has caused much distress to the millions staying at home and has effected the economy of the country in unspeakable ways. Businesses have no means of operating which leads to loss of revenue and will then have to drastic measures to keep cost low like retrenchment or pay cuts. AirAsia, which employs thousands have already announced pay-cuts up to to 70% while Malaysian Hotels Association expects more than 30% of the industry manpower to be laid off.

The government predicted for a such a situation and introduced various stimulus packages the keep the economy somewhat on life support system. But the amount could only stave off very little of the impact the MCO will cause and the billions allocated went for one off payments to the B40 group and partial subsidy for employees. When an employee gets laid off the amount he receives from the government, will not last him 2 weeks, especially if he lives in the city.

Many people are complaining that things are more expensive during the MCO and that they are running out of their rainy day reserves very quickly. There’s truth in those claims for numerous reasons, although retailers have not marked up the goods or are taking advantage of their customers, whats actually happening is that buyers who used to choose and pick their items are now left with limited choice. With goods flying off the shelf like its WWIII, some of the customers are left with items which are costlier or imported, they will then have to pay premium for a pack of rice for instance which they never would have bought before. That’s not all, some outlets might display the more expensive stock while keeping the cheaper goods in the back. Customers are also bound by time and distance they can travel and shops are confined by operating hours, this causes a rush and mostly end up buying whatever that’s on display. A RM100 weekly grocery consignment could now be RM120, a 20% increase!

Expensive Delivery

Ordering food over delivery service is also more expensive, a meal for a family will be just as costly as going to a restaurant. The novelty is exciting for the first few days or weeks, but after a month the selection becomes routine and the wallet gets slimmer. With all that time in your hand, and 24/7 internet what else can you do? Online shopping of course. At work you are occupied with tasks and assignments, you get home beat and just want to call it a day. With MCO, its boredom and idle mind, shopping sites know this and are paying more than ever to Google and Facebook to advertise their services so that  snazzy sneakers appears on your wall every day.

Online sales peaked 30% during the lockdown, pent up demand will increase as the frustration of staying at home builds up.

So, in summary, the MCO is leaving Malaysians with less income, spending more at the groceries, ordering food online which inevitably costs higher due to limited options and to stave off boredom go online to shop and spend with money they don’t have.

And yeah, there’s also the ringgit which is at 4.4 against the dollar, that’s a story for another day.