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Nightclub stakeholders waiting anxiously for new SOPs

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A promoter says the industry has to work on rebuilding the concept of clubbing in the post-Covid-19 era, when they are allowed to resume operating from May 15.

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Free Malaysia Today
The managing director of an events company says local clubbers will have to adjust to partying with the new SOPs. (Twitter pic)

PETALING JAYA:
While nightclub stakeholders have welcomed the government’s move to allow them to operate from May 15, many are anxiously waiting for the new guidelines.

Godwin Pereira, the founder of Kyo, a nightclub at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur, said he was looking forward to the SOPs that would help revive the industry that had been at a standstill for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There’s definitely going to be a set of rules. Once the protocols are released, perhaps I’ll have to think about seating arrangements,” he told FMT.

“While my club can accommodate 700 patrons, maybe only half will be allowed to enter – and that too might be based on reservations.

“It’s not going to be the same as before.”

While he agreed that today’s announcement was “definitely good news” for nightclub operators, Victor Goh, a popular DJ based in Kuala Lumpur, said he was tempering his expectations.

Like Pereira, Goh said he was also waiting for the nightclub SOPs to be released, adding that health minister Khairy Jamaluddin clearly stated that the reason nightclubs would be allowed to reopen on May 15 – as opposed to May 1, when the country will see other SOPs loosened – was to give them time to finalise the protocols.

“If other sectors are allowed to operate without restrictions, I don’t see any reason why there should be restrictions on nightlife,” he said.

Khairy announced today that nightclubs, the only remaining premises within the National Security Council’s (MKN) negative list, would be allowed to operate from May 15.

He said the health ministry had met with organisations representing these premises to discuss SOPs, which would be finalised by MKN.

For Daniela Horeanga, the managing director of an events company, local clubbers would have to adjust to partying with the new SOPs.

“We have to rebuild the crowd and the concept of clubbing in line with the post-Covid-19 era,” she said.

“It’s going to be difficult, but I believe people are looking forward to having fun again.”

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