KUALA LUMPUR: Many restaurants in the country are teetering on the edge, unsure if they will be able to survive for much longer.

       This follows the ban on dine-ins, enforced since Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan began on June 1, which will continue until Covid-19 cases fall below 4,000 a day.

       This lockdown has been particularly brutal for restaurants as pandemic-wary consumers have been very careful with their expenditure, resulting in paltry delivery and takeaway sales for many eateries.

       "During the first MCO, people might have been in a better position financially, but going into the second year of this, consumers are more cautious with their ringgit and are definitely spending less on restaurant meals," says Renyi Chin, the co-founder of the Malaysian F&B Operators Alliance, which has over 1,200 restaurant members.

       Tan San Eu, the co-owner of the eatery Pun's said sales dwindled so badly this lockdown that he has decided to permanently shutter his one-year-old restaurant.

       "The third week of the lockdown was when things got really bad. My partner and I were sitting for six hours straight in the restaurant with no orders at all. That's when we knew we had to bite the bullet and close shop," he says.

       Even for more established restaurants, sales have been poor at best. Many eateries are getting by on delivery and takeaway sales that are between 10% to 30% of regular revenue.

       "It is very, very bad, because there are no dine-ins. I don't know why people think because restaurants have delivery as an income stream, everything is okay," says Navin Karu, the owner of popular local eateries like Vin's and Manja KL.

       "The truth is, even with delivery, my revenue is down 90%. My overheads for two businesses come up to over RM100,000, and I am only making 10% from deliveries, so the losses are accumulating," he says.

       Joshua Liew, the founder of coffee chain Espressolab meanwhile says things are so awful for his business that he now rakes in less than RM100 a day in takeaway sales.

       Restaurants relying on food delivery platforms also have the added headache of having to generate more sales to keep up with the commission taken by these platforms, which can be up to 30%.

       "If you normally break even at RM40,000 for example, you will need to make at least RM55,000 to break even using food delivery platforms, because of the commission taken," explains Chin.

       Restaurant owners say things would be slightly easier if the Socso wage subsidy for staff was increased and rental was waived or subsidised during this period, as both represent their two biggest fixed costs.

       "Rental is a killer and things are so dire in the industry that we need more than the existing wage subsidies from the government to get us through this lockdown," says Liew.

       As it stands, Chin says things have gotten so bad that many restaurant owners have resorted to borrowing from friends and family as their cash reserves have dried up.

       Liew adds that in terms of moratoriums on loan repayments, some foreign banks have not been helpful.

       "I am two months in arrears on a business loan and have been threatened with legal action. I asked for a moratorium, but was told that I didn't qualify for it because F&B is an essential service during this period," says Liew.

       This recipe for disaster has resulted in many restaurant owners opting to just call it a day.

       Lee Yew Kheong for instance, incurred RM100,000 in losses at each of his popular restaurants – The Red Beanbag, Yellow Brick Road and Wizards during the first MCO last year.

       He is still trying to recover those figures and has since decided to close one of his eateries, Wizards, this month.

       Now he is wondering if he should just cut his losses and get out of the restaurant industry altogether.

       "I actually think this lockdown will be the final nail in the coffin for many restaurants. You will see many restaurants closing and the rest barely surviving.

       "At the moment, we are just hoping dine-ins are allowed soon. However, if this lockdown continues for much longer, some people like me will probably think it's not worth running restaurants anymore," he says.