The Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented by the Malaysian government on Mar. 16.

While it was meant to curb the transmission of Covid-19, it simultaneously left many businesses high and dry.

Those especially vulnerable are people on the lower rungs of society, and this revelation was experienced first-hand by one Gary Chong in Malaysia.

Poor business and little earnings

In a Facebook post on Mar. 29, Chong shared his heartbreaking interaction with a chicken rice hawker near his house.

"This morning I experienced first hand, a distinct sector of society which has slipped under the radar. Or at least which has brought me to my knees in re-evaluating my role as a citizen in my community."

As the head of the household, he had left the house for a grocery run as per MCO conditions, but passed by a coffee shop.

Surprisingly, three stalls remained open despite the lockdown, including the chicken rice stall, and Chong proceeded to order three packets of chicken rice.

The chicken rice hawker then shared his woes with Chong.

Business had been poor since the start of the lockdown.

The hawker said that he had been earning around RM140 (S$46.14) a day even though his stall remains open from 7am to 11pm.

"To put it in a nutshell, He has to work 16 hours to just sell chicken rice and survive between RM100-180 a day. He continued that if business went on for 2 more weeks like this, he would go out of business."

Various roadblocks

The hawker, it seemed, was so desperate to earn some money he apparently begged Chong to return later and patronise his stall.

"His next response shocked me. He begged me to come back and buy from him for dinner...in which he then gave me extra meat in my packets, in the hopes that would seal the deal and I would come back that night."

Chong then struck up a conversation with the hawker, and discovered the various reasons why the hawker was trapped in his current situation.

The hawker stated that he was unable to register on e-commerce sites or other digital platforms to increase his earnings as he was illiterate and had no knowledge of technology.

Although he had considered offering delivery services, he could not afford the minimum RM5 (S$1.65) delivery fees, and customers would not tolerate a price hike of double the amount.

The hawker added that while he was eligible for certain incentives under the RM250 billion (S$82.3 billion) Stimulus Package meant to tide the local economy through the pandemic, he was reluctant to register with the Inland Revenue Board for said incentives.

Chong speculated that this might be due to some hawkers having "checkered pasts" and an "warranted/unwarranted fear towards the government".

When asked why the hawker did not choose to close shop and wait out the lockdown -- which is currently supposed to end on Apr. 14 -- his response was apparently something along the lines of "kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang, makan petang".

This is an idiom which means "living hand to mouth".

Refused man's donations and help

Chong said he offered the hawker financial assistance or some help with technology, but was promptly refused. The hawker said his patronage would suffice.

Chong then elaborated how his encounter with the hawker left him with much guilt over his ignorance of the plight of vulnerable people like the chicken rice hawker during Malaysia's lockdown.

"You see, my family and I have been very comfortable for the past 11 days, utilising convenient delivery services such as GrabFood and FoodPanda everyday since MCO day 1.

We even enjoyed the occasional bout of home cooking and it was laughter around the house, while at the exact same time, there was an Uncle sitting in his chicken rice stall waiting 16 hours for a mere 10 customers per day."

He continued that he returned at dinnertime to patronise the stall, and sneaked a big tip into hawker's till.

Chong's post has since gone hugely viral, garnering over 7,400 shares.

He urged social media users to look out for their neighbourhood hawkers and drop by whenever they can to dabao some food, provide some encouragement or strike up a conversation to lift their mood and help them through this crisis.

"...It would be a sad day for our community when we have to start having conversations as to whatever happened to our favourite chicken rice hawker stall down the street."

You can read Chong's full post here.