KUCHING: Coffeeshops in the city which depend very much on foreign workers have been facing a drawn out shortage of manpower or serving crew and are thus pleading with the government to ease border restrictions to allow foreign workers to enter the state.
Kuching Coffeeshop and Restaurants Owners Association committee member Kapitan Tan Yit Sheng said local coffeeshops had started to face such problems since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and now the situation was getting worse.
“Due to the border closure, a lot of Indonesians cannot come into the state and thus the coffeeshops are short of foreign workers now.
“Some had gone back to their home country earlier and could not return to Sarawak because our border is not open yet,” he told New Sarawak Tribune when contacted on Sunday (Mar 6).
He added the coffeeshops mainly depended on a combination of local and foreign workers but at the moment they were depending on local workers due to a shortage of foreign workers.
“However, local workers tend to hop from one shop to another and they will go wherever the offer is good.
“Unlike foreign workers, who would work for one shop for a long time and this is another problem the coffeeshops are facing, which is difficulty in getting loyal workers,” he said.
Tan, who also owns a coffeeshop in Gala City Commercial Centre, said it was also difficult to get local workers to work in coffeeshops because they preferred to work in other sectors such as in the mini market, supermarket or shopping complex.
“Sometimes people then to think they need to do odd jobs and need to sweat working for coffeeshops,” he said.
He therefore urged the authorities and the government to consider relaxing the border restriction.
“I very much welcome the recent call by our Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah for the opening of the borders be it for general workers or tourists.
“This is because we cannot lock down our border for a long time and looking at the situation, the pandemic is likely to go on in the whole world for another few years.
“So we have no choice but to live with the pandemic and live with the virus already,” he said.
To ensure everyone is safe and healthy, he said, it was important to continue with the new norm of masking when going out, practice good hygiene and physical distancing.
“So, I hope the government can look into this, understand this matter and open the border as soon as possible.
“As long as they (foreign workers) can provide a record showing they are not Covid-19 positive and maybe undergo quarantine for five days before allowing them to come in.
“I think doing this will be the best way to ease the shortage of workers,” said Tan.
ends
Caption:
KCH-tan foreign-0603-nj-1:
Kapitan Tan Yit Sheng
