JOHOR BARU: While most shopping malls in the country go by the National Security Council’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for mall entry, some implement additional measures for safety purposes.
A Malaysia Shopping Malls Association southern region representative, who declined to be named, said its members had been directed to allow entry to “low risk” and “casual contact” shoppers.
“Shopping malls usually comply with the Federal Government’s as well as their respective local authorities’ SOP. This may vary from state to state,” she said.
“However, some shopping malls aren’t allowing ‘casual contact – no symptoms” individuals into their premises,” she said.
“The additional entry requirements are actually up to the mall’s management to decide,” she said when contacted.
The representative cited an example where a shopping mall in the Klang Valley only allowed fully-vaccinated individuals in while its sister mall in Johor allowed non-vaccinated individuals in.
She added that shoppers complied with the SOP as they are used to the new norm – showing the MySejahtera app, scanning the QR code and taking their temperature before entry.
Checks at the Plaza Pelangi mall showed that it only allowed entry for individuals in the “low risk” category while those under “casual contact” and above would be disallowed.
A Johor Baru City Square shopping centre representative said that only individuals who showed their vaccination digital certificate were allowed to enter the mall.
“We let in those in the ‘low risk’ and ‘casual contact’ categories,” he said.
IOI Mall Kulai also allows individuals in the two categories in while shoppers in the “close contact” and “people under surveillance” and red categories – “suspected case” and “confirmed case” are not allowed to enter the mall.
“For shops that require fully-vaccinated status for entry such as fashion outlets, beauty and hair salons and food and beverage outlets, the SOP will be managed by the individual shops,” she added.