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Indonesians in Malaysia raise concerns over food supplies amid lockdown extension
Many Indonesian citizens have remained calm and followed the order, according to Agung Cahaya Sumirat, the head of the social and cultural information department at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. “However, some of them also expressed concern to us regarding the limited food supplies,” he said in a text message to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
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A member of the Royal Malaysia Police checks a travel document during the Movement Control Order, limiting the activities of people in Malaysia as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Kuala Lumpur on March 25. (AFP/Mohd RASFAN )
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ndonesian citizens living in Malaysia have raised concerns about food supplies following the country’s decision to extend the nationwide lockdown until mid-April because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nationwide movement restrictions, aimed at stemming the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 coronavirus, has been extended from March 31 to April 14, as the number of confirmed cases of the disease grows, the Strait Times reported.
In a televised speech from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Wednesday that the government decided on the two-week extension of border closures and shutdowns for nonessential businesses as the number of new COVID-19 infections "is expected to continue for a while before new cases begin to reduce".
Many Indonesian citizens have remained calm and followed the order, said Agung Cahaya Sumirat, the head of social and cultural information department at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
“However, some of them also expressed concern to us regarding the limited food supplies,” he said in a text message to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The lockdown had also prompted members of the Indonesian community, in cooperation with the embassy, to organize for aid to be sent to the affected Indonesians in Malaysia.
Aside from that, masks and hand sanitizers were also rare, Titi added, saying that she was depending only on the supplies she brought from Indonesia.
Simandjuntak Yosep Parulian, a 46-year-old IT consultant based in Kuala Lumpur, said he felt grateful that all was well for him so far. However, he said some of his Indonesian friends who worked in informal sectors were not as lucky as him.
“I can still work from home and still buy daily needs, although each house is only allowed to send one person to go out,” Yosep said in a text message to the Post on Thursday.
“Main roads are blocked, and the police would give you tickets if you bring more than one person to go out from your house.”
He also raised concern about the situation in the days ahead as the last time he went out to buy groceries he recalled that several items like bread, eggs and vegetables were hard to find, in addition to the masks and hand sanitizer that remained scarce in markets.
Malaysia has reported 2,031 confirmed cases, the highest in Southeast Asia, with 24 fatalities as of Thursday.
