Plenty of people regardless of religion would visit a Ramadan bazaar in Malaysia to buy food for berbuka and dinner. For this year though, this long-standing tradition are no longer allowed to be opened due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and Movement Control Order.
Not surprisingly, plenty of alternative ideas have been crafted to replace the traditional Ramadan bazaars. Many of these ideas are meant not only to help continue the tradition but also to lessen the economic impact on merchants that are going to lose their income due to the restriction.
For example, the Ministry of Federal Territories (MoFT) has already planned to implement drive-thru bazaar whereby the public can come to a designated area to buy their meal by driving slowly from one stall to another. MoFT has also suggested another method called pack-and-pick in which the public can first order their food online and then pick them later.
However, it looks like both ideas has been shot down by the National Security Council as the Senior Defense Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today has announced that the government has decided to prohibit both alternative Ramadan bazaar methods. He further clarified that existing food service will not be affected by this, so you can continue to order your berbuka and dinner meal during Ramadan via your favourite food delivery app.
Sebarang bentuk perniagaan berkaitan bazar atau gerai Ramadan termasuk dalam bentuk pandu lalu serta tempah dan ambil tidak dibenarkan.#MinDefMalaysia#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/9cY4Oavry5
— MINDEF Malaysia (@MINDEFMalaysia) April 16, 2020
However, it is not known for now if this decision also applies to the Ramadan E-Bazaar collaboration between Grab and Selangor state government which involved centralized kitchens for merchants that are going to be operated according to the guidelines from Ministry of Health. Nevertheless, we will keep you posted if we receive further updates from all parties regarding the Ramadan E-Bazaar implementations.
(Main image: Tian Yake, used under Creative Common license.)
