PETALING JAYA: The Covid-19 pandemic has wrecked marriage plans for many and brought woe to wedding planners, with the number of marriages falling and the size of such functions shrinking.
-Advertisement-
Once a lucrative career, some have started venturing into other fields and others planning to do so in the event that the conditional movement control order (CMCO) is extended further.
Speaking to FMT, the Association of Wedding Ceremony Operators Malaysia said many planners had already switched jobs due to large financial losses as a result of Covid-19 and its restrictions.
“Customers are still cautious so business is extremely poor, especially in the Klang Valley,” said its secretary-general Arabath Ali Arul Alavudeen.
“If this goes on, I feel that we won’t be able to survive … many small businesses have already shut down.”
As of now, Arabath said around 30% to 40% of wedding planners were considering switching careers.
-Advertisement-
Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Sabah are currently under CMCO until Dec 31 with the exception of Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam and Hulu Selangor, which are under the recovery movement control order.
The CMCO was also imposed on Mukim 12 Barat Daya and Mukim 13 Timur Laut (Penang); Ipoh and Chemor (Perak); Pork Dickson (Negeri Sembilan); as well as Johor Bahru, Batu Pahat and Kulai (Johor).
Arabath said many of the association’s customers had also postponed their wedding, with some of them demanding refunds.
“The wedding planners themselves do not have any money to carry out refunds, with many clients bringing their cases to the consumer tribunal,” he said.
He urged the government to lend a helping hand to the industry by subsidising rentals for traders.
Arabath also called for Putrajaya to relax certain loan terms to make it easier for them to borrow from the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund, SME Corp and Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd. – FMT