KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has urged the government to draft an “effective-and-comprehensive” post Covid-19 economy recovery plan, in order to prepare the people, and the public and private sectors to better embrace the ‘new normal’ ahead.

Urging this was its president Tan Sri T.C Goh while reiterating its support for the government’s decision to further extend the Movement Control Order (MCO) to another two weeks until 12 of May.

He acknowledged that such a decision was an “appropriate-and-cautious” move in the best interest of the nation and the people, amidst the continuous fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement issued today, Goh also called on the government to come out with another supplementary economic stimulus package to better assist the business sector to navigate out of the unprecedented public health and economic crisis, citing that the business sector and the livelihood of those who depended on it would continue to be affected by the extension of the MCO.

“For instance, the government can allocate more funds to upgrade and to enhance infrastructure and platform for e-commerce, upstream and downstream operations, video conferencing, a more efficient and affordable internet broadband service, paperless business operations, etc. which are bound to become an important and integral part of the ‘new normal’, post Covid-19,” he suggested.

He also believed that the people need to start making necessary adjustment to their life, such as embracing electronic transaction, distant learning, or even to heed the health ministry’s advice of continuing to maintain social-distancing, avoiding crowded places, and maintain good personal hygiene always.

Meanwhile, Huazong has come out with another proposal for the government to consider, so as to assist the people and the business sector to better cope with the MCO, following its extension, as the follows:

1. To come out with an “effective-and-comprehensive” post Covid-19 economy recovery plan to prepare the people and the business sector to better embrace the ‘new normal’ ahead.

2. To provide a post “Covid-19 guidelines” to guide the people towards living a safe-and-healthy life.

3. To reopen more businesses in staggered manner so that they could continue to stay afloat and to save jobs.

4. To further increase the various cash aids for the people.

5. While the government’s ongoing effort to draft a special economic stimulus package for short-and-medium term economic recovery plan is commendable and welcomed, it is hoped that besides taking care of the small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), the government could also pay due attention to issues facing the big corporations and public-listed companies, the self-employed, and to provide necessary assistance to them.-pr/BNN