Kong (black T-shirt) lamenting his woes to his fellow trishaw riders at Armenian Street in George Town, Penang. Photos: LIM BENG TATT and CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
CHINESE New Year is one of the festive seasons where trishaw riders are able to earn extra money from angpows given by their customers.
Some riders have even received angpows worth hundreds of ringgit during the festival in previous years.
However, all that has changed due to the dwindling number of tourists as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and movement control order (MCO).
A trishaw rider, who wished to be known as Kong, 58, said he used to make an extra RM400 during Chinese New Year from the angpows he received from his customers.
More needs to be done for the tourist guide community that has been severely impacted by the pandemic. Filepic
With borders closed to international travellers since March last year, many tourist guides in the country have been grappling with bread-and-butter issues.
The lack of travellers in a pandemic world means that their vocation has practically come to a grinding halt.
Some respite came recently when Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced a new assistance package – the Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia or Permai – worth RM15bil.
In a special address, Muhyiddin said a one-off financial assistance of RM500 will be given to 14,000 tourist guides in the country.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has urged the government to immediately create more permanent posts for medical officers as part of efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic