MALAYSIANS can now breathe easier with the Health Ministry’s announcement that the use of face masks indoors is now optional from September 7 2022.
THE majority of residents in Subang Jaya however continue to don face masks in public places despite the relaxation.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin when announcing the matter said, however, that premises owners could still determine whether visitors were required to wear one.
A random check at ๐๐ฒ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ today found many of the shoppers continued to wear face masks when out shopping at the hypermarket and shopping mall. A few were spotted without masks while some have opted to keep their masks on (but at the chin) while walking around indoors.
According to Jason Chin, General Manager of ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐, the shopping mall will adhere to the latest guidelines announced by the Ministry of Health.
“After 3 years of masking up, the wearing of masks is now to be self-regulated by the general public. The guidelines stated that the wearing of face masks is optional indoors hence it is no longer mandatory for the general public to don on face masks when they enter our mall premises.”
He said the latest announcement also stated that businesses may impose the wearing of face masks in their premises if they prefer. It will entirely be at their discretion if retailers want to continue this practice.
“However, we are encouraging our F&B retailers to continue the wearing of face masks for the safety of diners. As for the mall’s employees, the wearing of face masks remain compulsory for the mall’s frontliners such as Security, Housekeeping and Customer Care employees,” he added.
SJECHO also contacted the management of ๐๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ๐๐ซ๐ and were informed that shoppers were encouraged to continue wearing their masks while in the two malls. However, all staff and workers on duty are required to wear face mask for the time being.
๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ management has also stated that it will encourage shoppers to continue wearing their face masks when entering and moving around in the mall.
Over at ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, the management said it will not insist that shoppers don masks when entering the mall. It added that for tenants, it will be at the discretion of the operators to enforce mask wearing or otherwise. It further said that food and beverage operators and food servers are encouraged to mask up for hygiene purposes as well as to give confidence to patrons.
