Singapore and Malaysia have started relaxing movement restrictions for the Hospitality industry. As establishments are beginning to open for dine-ins, we spoke to restaurant owners of various concepts and key industry voices on what’s happening on-ground.
Singapore
As of August 10, fully vaccinated individuals in Singapore can dine in restaurants in larger groups of five, compared to just two diners previously. Hawker centres and coffee shops are open to everyone, regardless of vaccination status, with a limitation of two people per table, said Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister, Gan Kim Yong.
“Every restaurant and hawker centre is open for dine-in. Speaking from my observations, the situation in hawkers are quite dire because a lot of tables are not usable due to social distancing. Tables are demarcated and cannot be used – that’s about one-third of the dining space that cannot be used. Anyhow, people mostly visit hawker centres for takeaways even though dine-ins are allowed. I noticed less traffic even after the reopening.” Evelyn Chen of Bibik Gourmand, a food and travel writer, and one of the Regional Academy Chairs (South East Asia, South) for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants academy.
As Singapore’s road map economic recovery begins, the population is divided into two sets of people – the fully vaccinated and the non-fully vaccinated. The fully vaccinated group will have their life resume as per pre-pandemic times, allowing them to dine at restaurants freely. As for the non-fully vaccinated group, they will have to take extra measures such as having an ART test done in a Singapore Government-approved testing centre within 24 hours of their restaurant dine-in session.
Although restaurant owners have come to expect negative reviews from people who oppose this policy, everyone I spoke with said that they have yet to encounter major issues. Howard Lo, owner of Empire Eats, operator of Tanuki Raw, Salmon Samurai, The World is Flat, and Standing Sushi Bar shares, “We encountered a couple of situations where people were trying to use invalid vaccination certificates during the first week. After that, there was enough press attention focused on this negative behaviour that we do not see this anymore.
He adds, “Overall, I think this is the right step by the government. It’s moving us towards safely welcoming guests for dine-ins and giving a glimpse of what may become routine in treating Covid as an endemic. It’s good that there is clarity and simplicity. This leads to less confusion and minimizes confrontations. It does slow down entry to premises as we must check each diners’ status before they enter, but after the first week, the vast majority of diners are cooperative and have their TraceTogether app ready.”
Similarly, Joshua Pang, Head Bartender of Nutmeg & Clove (Asia’s 50 Best Bars) says, “From my experience, we have not yet encountered any such situations. However, some problems did arise when foreigners who have gotten their full vaccination done in other countries had yet to get their status approved in Singapore. But overall, F&B businesses in Singapore are backed by the government when faced with the situation of medical segregation.”
Things did not go as smoothly for Chef-Owner LG Han of Michelin starred Restaurant Labyrinth (Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant) who encountered an unfortunate incident during its first day of opening. Upon denying a customer entry and informing them politely that their reservation deposit will be forfeited if a guest failed to show their vaccination status on the TraceTogether (TT) App, the customer took to Google Reviews to vent his frustrations
Chef LG Han says on his Facebook post, “We are a small restaurant and rely solely on reservations, meaning that we prepare our food fresh every day according to the exact number of customers coming in and a lot of manpower goes into the preparation of the food. If a customer is irresponsible in making a booking and showing up unvaccinated as per TT, we definitely will not be able to seat the customer and there will be losses incurred. The deposit that we charge does not even cover these losses.”
On preparing his restaurants for dine-in, Howard ran through various scenarios with his team for accepting dine-in customers, “Scenarios involving checking TraceTogether, scanning the token, verifying the medical cert, and validating a Pre-Event Test. We keep a running list of the accepted scenarios and update it as the government policies change. The team is briefed on how to ensure it’s a real TT vaccination status and not a screenshot, as well as the different hard copy certificates that are valid. The team is also told to be strict and uncompromising, as any infraction could lead to our restaurant getting shut down for ten days.”
Most diners are understanding…
Evelyn says that requiring customers to be fully vaccinated is worth it because it keeps everyone safe. “Majority of the people aren’t making a big fuss. But there are always one or two trying to wriggle their way through, get upset by the situation, and then go on Google Reviews. It is not a big thing at all. Singaporeans are quite understanding. If I do not want to be vaccinated, then why should I protest this rule? It is only responsible for everyone to be vaccinated, and it is the right thing for the government to set these rules. We are not only protecting ourselves but also everyone, therefore the country.”
Howard agrees, “Most diners in Singapore are showing patience with the restaurants – they understand that the rules are constantly changing and that it does slow down the overall restaurant experience. They also understand why the rules exist and that we’re all working together to create a safe dining experience during the pandemic.”
Malaysia
The easing of restrictions to allow dine-ins happened quite suddenly and took many restaurant owners by surprise. Most expressed hesitation in reopening for dine-ins, citing the inconsistency in clear government rules as a major deterrent. Some restaurant owners made a stance to not open at all. Renyi Chin of myBurger Lab says in a Facebook post, “We are advised to have ample space between seats. So, is it 1 meter or 2 meter? Will we get a fine if the enforcers come check. Staffs need to be single dose or double dose?”
In Malaysia, unlike Singapore, non-fully vaccinated people are not allowed to dine-in at all. “No business that supports medical segregation will ever get my money, SOP is not law.” says a member of the public, expressing their displeasure on a restaurant page.
Tay Hui Ying, co-founder and Marketing Director of Platform Hospitality, operator of Entier and Botanica+Co says its restaurants are ready, “We’ve done dine-ins with restrictions for almost two years now. It’s auto-pilot mode for us, everyone including our guests, will more or less know what to expect and do. If there’s any new regulation, we just have to adjust. I don’t think it’s too much of a challenge. We may meet a number of guests who may insist on their way, but it’s nothing unmanageable. For those who go on social media to voice their unhappiness against restaurants following regulations, honestly, the audience should know better how to judge the content. It doesn’t mean that if you make your voice heard, it will be a melodious one.”
She adds, “As legally registered businesses, we are governed by regulatory bodies who issue operating licenses. They have the authority to impose penalties if we break the rules. On this topic, I don’t think it’s a matter of whether we are being inclusive or discriminatory – it’s as simple as being legally obliged to adhere to the system to carry out our business. With the high number of Covid-19 cases that the city is experiencing, there’s certainly a need for regulations to cope with the situation, so this is as expected.”
Shin Chang, the owner Chocha Food Store, JOLOKO and REXKL shares the same sentiment, “We are not for or against dine-in, but simply adhering to government laws. Furthermore, we have other issues to deal with – environment, mental health, job losses. There are valid reasons on both sides of the spectrum. Everyone has the freedom to decide, as long as good SOPs are in place. What is encouraging to see is that dine-ins are picking up for our restaurants.” Chocha Food Store and JOLOKO take dine-ins by reservations only.
Angel Ng, the General Manager of REXKL says it works differently for shared spaces such as food courts. “REXKL is a community social hub. We have many different tenants in one space. Operating a food hall is much more complex. We have to anticipate all possible scenarios.”
She adds, “Although I am for vaccines, I don’t think segregating people is the right way to go, it is not the most efficient way to stamp out the virus either. What about pregnant women who would not wish to be vaccinated until their baby is born? Or people who are allergic to the chemical compound in the vaccine, or people who are undergoing surgery and will not be able to take the vaccine?
“The government should collectively find another way to approach this instead of a firm “no vaccine, no go.” – Angel Ng
The landscape is different for fine-dining restaurants that only take reservations. Nadodi KL (Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant) opened for dine-in on August 23. Kartik Kumar, the General Manager, is excited to welcome customers again. “Nadodi KL would not have such issues. Patrons have been accommodating, especially with such a prolonged lockdown. Nadodi is a 20-seat restaurant with a requirement of an RM100 deposit. This means that diners are serious about dining-in. We will anticipate the guests’ needs by calling the guest beforehand, ensuring their dietary requirements are met, explaining the guidelines, and remind them of the SOPs. One customer even called to share that her MySejahtera app status showed that she had casual contact with a Covid positive case but had no symptoms. We also have private rooms to ensure ample distance are kept between diners.”
Advice on preparing for potential scenarios
On asking how can others prepared better for unexpected scenarios, “My advice to others would be to meet your guests’ needs actively. Cover all grounds to prevent a guest from walking in, getting denied entry, and then them making a fuss about it. Try to take reservations way in advance and enforce a minimal deposit, if possible. Call the guests and highlight the guidelines, remind them, and make sure they acknowledge and accept it.”
Hui Ying of Platform Hospitality shares on minimizing any potential issues in her restaurants, “We will be very open and clear on what our reservation policy is, and it’s also openly available on our booking website. We have also prepared printouts that outline the SOPs which we are following. However, we already anticipate that verification of vaccination status will be an issue. Until today it is still not clear. How do we verify if someone’s vaccinated overseas? There are no guidelines on possibilities for cases like this.”
Despite the uncertainties, there is still hope. Renyi Chin says in a Facebook post, “Everyone can make a decision based on their appetite for risks. Despite the rise in cases, I think that opening for dine-in will happen for most F&B operators. It’s just a matter of time and readiness. As more establishments open up, and more people get their 2nd dose, it’s inevitable that more restaurants will make dine-in available because those that choose delivery or takeaway only will see a sharp decline in revenue as people start heading out again.”
Interview and written by Theri Burhan. Edited by Lim Aileen.
