So my worst fear came true. Last night at 10 p.m. our prime minister announced that a Movement Control Order (MCO) will be invoked in Malaysia for 2 weeks from 18 March through 31 March 2020. It’s like a partial lockdown. With this, government and private premises would be closed except those providing essential services. Although hubby’s business is considered as essential service as it’s under food distribution, his business has however suffered a blow. There has been almost 99% cancellation of orders and postponement of functions. Though it’s announced that the MCO is only for 2 weeks, it will be extended should the number of Covid-19 cases continue to rise. Our aim now is to flatten the epidemic curve. Even hubs himself was hoping that the Government will announce a lockdown of sort as it is only through this strict implementation that the Coronavirus can be contained. And it is only after the Virus is contained that his business and all other businesses affected by this pandemic will rebound. And we as responsible Malaysians must all cooperate and work together to stop the spread of this invisible silent killer.
Yes our family will be affected financially but this will only be temporary. I have gone through even worst situations when I was growing up. During the recession in the mid 1980s when my papa lost his job and we had just enough to live by, my wise late grandma managed to put cheap but tasty food on the table for all of us. Have you all ever tasted ‘recycled pork or chicken’ that’s so yummy that you’d crave for it everyday? My late grandma could easily transform meat used to cook soups into another lip-smacking dish by sauteeing it with soy sauce, sugar, salt, garlic and dash of Chinese cooking wine.
I remember that in the year 1987 when my dad was hit by the recession, I had no new clothes for the entire year and only wore my school PE t-shirt during CNY! I am made of tough stuff and I will raise tough girls too. I think our girls are pretty easy-going and flexible.
Onwards and upwards! Because of this MCO, hubs and I can now sleep in. We don’t have to rush to go anywhere. I don’t have to do school and tuition runs. The girls’ tuition centers will be conducting online tuition / eClass soon. Alycia’s highschool will start eClasses soon. I’m still waiting for Cass’ Chinese primary school to announce the interim measures to be taken so that classes can still go on. Sherilyn’s gym and dance center will be temporarily closed. Our condo Managment is now having an emergency meeting to discuss whether private tutors, visitors and cleaners can still enter the premise.
Our girls are so happy that they will have an additional 2 weeks of school holidays, making it a total of 3 weeks! Wish us luck for our 3 weeks of house quarantine! I’ve been briefing them on the financial implications this MCO will have on the family as daddy’s business will slow down. Luckily we have our Rainy Days savings to tide us through this difficult times. I can live without having new clothes, new shoes, new bags, new lingerie, boba tea, no fancy dining. We can definitely ride out this storm together and when the storm has ceased, we will see the beautiful rainbow in the sky. Hubs will be super busy again with his business. He has so many confirmed events that have been postponed indefinitely. When this is all behind us, our busy lives will resume again. For now, I am so happy that I can catch up on my sleep, I don’t have to sweat it out under the sun running errands and doing school + tuition runs. It’s a great time for hubs and I to take a break to rest and rejuvenate our mind and body before the busyness takes over us again soon.
We managed to do some grocery shopping yesterday morning at our neighborhood supermarket. Many shelves were empty or emptying any time. The queues at the checkout counter were a few meters long throughout the day. And this was the scene at almost all the supermarkets and hypermarkets in most parts of Malaysia yesterday.
We stocked up on mung beans (red beans sold out), sweet potatoes, matcha powder, nuts, seaweed snacks, biscuits, eggs, shampoo, potatoes, vegetables, meat and only 1 packet of toilet rolls 😁
The pork shelves were almost empty and staff were busy replenishing them.
I’m so glad to know that I can still go to the supermarket and pharmacies throughout this 2-week MCO. But I’ll only limit my movement out of the house to twice a week.
To all my blog readers in Malaysia, stay calm, stay at home and don’t panic. Don’t travel out of town unless absolutely necessary. We can do this together and ride out the storm and come out even stronger than before 💪
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