Hard times during Covid-19 pandemic

Without doubt, almost everyone is affected by the coronavirus pandemic raging the world right now. When the government imposed MCO measures in March this year, my initial thoughts were for the daily-rated workers who make their living based on daily wages. Almost as seriously affected are the small-time businesses operating from stalls that depend on walk-in customers.

On a larger scale, the worldwide travel and holiday industry is hit very badly. Some airlines have been shut down and crew that were laid off need to find work in some other field. Hence we read stories about former airline pilots now running food stalls, selling burgers and driving Grab cars. Nothing to be ashamed of. The ex-Malindo Air pilot who sells curry noodles at a food stall in Subang Jaya has been in the news lately. He is the son of a fellow blogger-friend, Pak Zawi who I first got to know in blogosphere many years ago and had the chance to met in person. It was Pak Zawi who first uploaded the story on Facebook about his son, Captain Azrin, serving meals to customers while clad in pilot's uniform. The post was picked up by another blogger-friend, Kak Teh who is based in London. Kak Teh in turn relayed the story to her local journalist friend who did an interview with the Captain and published the story in the mainstream media. Blogger-friends network in full cooperation.

I am happy for both Pak Zawi and his son.

In the same vein, I am trying to help my youngest son in his food outlet business during these tough times. Of course, nothing on the scale that Pak Zawi has managed for his son.

In late August this year, I posted about a new venture where I am partnering with a friend to give my youngest son an opportunity to run a food stall. At the time when the very first MCO was announced in March, my son had just resigned from his job at a restaurant in Cyberjaya. He managed to drive home to Johor Bahru only a few hours before the lockdown came into force. During the subsequent weeks when the MCO restrictions were relaxed, he did home-based cooking to sell set meals to friends who placed orders by phone. When the government allowed businesses to resume, he tried looking for a permanent job but of course, not many restaurants are hiring. I then took him to meet my friend who is already in the F&B business.

In the earlier post, I shared some photos with the outlet name as Gerobok Lauk. After some deliberation, my son came up with a revised name and re-branding. The outlet would now be known as Warong Noodle and has a short but hopefully, catchy tagline. Our stall operates in a foodcourt-concept eatery in Dataran Larkin, Johor Bahru known as Bucu Terminal Makan. It is not very far from the main bus terminal Larkin Sentral. The Google Map location is provided here -> BTM.

In the first three months of operation, sales have not been encouraging. Volume of sales has steadily declined to the point where we are running at a loss. The initial worry was that our products were not good enough but feedback from customers was generally positive. So we checked with our neighbour stalls and they too have seen a drop in their takings. It seems that more people are staying home for dinner. Or perhaps overall spending power has reduced. The state-wide CMCO restrictions haven't helped either.

But god-willing, we shall persevere. Tough times don't last. Tough people do.

New name that we hope would catch on

One of the best-sellers at Warong Noodle

Small stall but in a comfortable setting

Note : Warong Noodle @ Bucu Terminal Makan is open from Friday to Wednesday (closed Thursday). Operating hours normally from 3pm ~ 11pm, except that under CMCO we close at 10pm. Also available on Foodpanda under the former name of Cactus.