Safety Measure During Pandemic Travelling in Malaysia

It's the Recovery Movement Control Order period. Covid-19 new cases have dropped to single digits for almost a few weeks. Malaysia government has since allowed re-opening of many business premises such as hotels, cinemas, theme parks and also domestic travelling. Now, I'm going to share some safety measures or the Standard Operating Procedure practised by the merchants in Malaysia to ensure the safety of the patrons in preventing the disease outbreak. 

1. Safe visiting @ National Museum

The first visited place is our National Museum located at KL central. It was opened on 13 June for visitors between 13 to 60 years old only and group visits were prohibited. Following the well-controlled of the COVID-19 situation in the country, they decided opened the door to all on 3 July 2020. Whereas the group visits were allowed under term and condition.

I was amazed by their effort which everything is in order. 

A signboard at the walkway clearly indicated the rules to follow for all museum visitors. This included QR code scanning for your details, body temperature scanning, usage of hand sanitiser and practise of social distancing.

After parking your car, you have to wait for your turn to register which included temperature scanning and MySejahtera app check-in. The hand sanitiser was placed on the counter for those who need it. Besides, there were chairs putting beside the registration counter for the visitors (waiting their turn) as they also control the number of visitors inside the building. Each chair was placed apart with some distance from each other.

2. Safe dining @ Baba Low& Pier 12 Seafood Tavern

In case you are hungry, 5 minutes from the museum reached the Baba Low Kopitiam. Why is Baba Low? Well, they served very nice Nyonya cuisine. There was not much Nyonya cuisine in KL compared to Melaka. This is one of the recommended stops for those who are craving for Nyonya food!

Once reached inside the shop, every one of us had to check-in via MySejahtera app and body temperature checking. All their staff were also wearing a face mask when serving us. I will share more about their food in the next post. 

Pier 12 Seafood Tavern

At night, if you are looking at a place for a casual drink or nice seafood in a semi-fine dining style, Pier 12 Seafood Tavern might be your choice. This restaurant is located near to Bukit Nanas and about 5 minutes drive from KLCC. Pier 12 restaurant is in a colonial-style building that was built and abandoned long time ago. The founder refurbished the interior and become what it looks like now.  Whether dining inside or outside, the tables were arranged in such a way with some distances between each other. They also do the guests' details recording and body temperature checking as their SOP.  

3. Safe Riding @ BRT

Riding on public transport? RapidKL also implemented the self-check-in QR code scanning for registration. It was hassle-free which you no need to download any app.

The QR code scanning would direct to a page that you only need to fill in some simple details like name and phone number.

Inside the RapidKl bus, passengers sat with some distance from each other. The bus also marked red boxes for those passengers who standing for social distancing purpose.

4. Safe Playing @ Sunway Lagoon Theme Park

The BRT was a service provided by RapidKL for Sunway residents and its surrounding area. With BRT, one could easily reach Sunway Lagoon with ease. I knew some of you might felt stress after locked down for several months, Sunway Lagoon might be a place for you to distress your tension. Why? Upon my visitation, I found they really disinfected the seat after each session of the play. Besides, there was social distancing practice between the seat place.

SOP of Sunway Lagoon Staff :

• All staff are required to fill in a digital self-declaration form which was introduced group wide.

• All staff are required to have their body temperature taken. 

• All staff are required to wear face masks.

• Social distancing practices at stations, locker rooms, washrooms, suraus, and staff canteens. 

• Staff to minimize physical contact with guests (ex: non-contact greeting).

• Wildlife Park staff practice bio security procedures and are equipped with protection gears while handling animals to prevent any contamination from human to animal and vice versa. UV lights and germicide treatment have also been increased to eliminate unwanted viruses.

GUESTS AND GUEST AREAS: 

• Guests are encouraged to pre-purchase their entrance tickets via online. 

• Guests are required to fill in a digital self-declaration form before entering Sunway Lagoon. 

• Guests will have their body temperature taken prior to entering the theme park.

 • Wearing of face masks are encouraged (exclusively designed face masks are also available for purchase as souvenirs). • Social distancing is introduced at queue lines and rides. 

• Guests to sanitise hands upon entering and exiting rides.

 • Rides will be cleaned and disinfected after each ride cycle.

 • Guests are required to use a face mask and apply hand sanitizer before interacting with the animals and to wash their hands with soap at the designated sinks after each contact.

 • Sanitizers will be available for guests to use at all Ticketing Counters, Rides Entry & Exits, Food and Retail Outlets, and All Cashier Counters.

 • Food and Retail outlets will practice social distancing, limiting guests into outlets and all contact points will be continuously cleansed and disinfected. 

• Frequent disinfecting will be conducted at the surau premises. Limited to a certain capacity at a time, designated praying areas will be marked to ensure social distancing and guests will need to bring their own praying mat as well as praying attire.

 • Guests are encouraged to make contactless payment via e-payment options available in the park such as credit card, e-wallet (Maybank QRPay, AliPay, Grabpay, UnionPay) and Sunway Lagoon e-load.

 • Lockers will be wiped and sanitised after every usage.

 • All high touch point areas are sanitized every 2-hours (ex: escalator rails, door handles, high traffic areas). 

• Pools are chlorinated and the water quality is consistently checked every 2-hours featuring an auto dosing system used for maintaining pool water chemistry at required parameters.

To my amazement, the staff in Sunway Lagoon in charge for the F&B also did a great job! They "autoclave" every plate and utensils! In my lab, I always see students disinfect the lab equipment with autoclave machine, especially for cell culture work. Now, outside of the lab, they apply this step to food safety with the pressure cooker! Besides, the staff also was seen wearing a face mask and gloves at the utensils distribution booth. To avoid cross-contamination, they also set up a transparent screen for all booths.

Note: An autoclave is a machine that uses steam under pressure to kill harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores on items that are placed inside a pressure vessel.

5. Safe Shopping @ Avenue K

Most of the business was affected during the lock-down period. And now some merchants were having a great sale that I could say really worth the deal. For example, Skechers having a promotion of buying the first pair at regular price and second pair at RM1. The queue was a bit long at other outlets. If you are looking at the good deal too, why not head to Skechers at Avenue K, you might save your time on queue :) In addition, Avenue K is having a lucky draw contest to one winner who might walk away with a brand new car. To participate, you just have to spend minimum RM150 at any outlets in the mall.

At the entrance, every patron has to scan the QR code via the app. For those without the app, you could walk inside as there was a counter set up for registration and body temperature checking.

The mall staff were seen wearing a face mask while working. Besides, the hand sanitiser was also placed on the counter for patrons.

The elevators were marked with 4 pink labels that encourage social distancing. This also indicated that only 4 persons were allowed at the same time.

Even the ATM machine were labelled with a concern message that reminded every user to sanitize their hands before/after use.

Come let's shop at Avenue K and bring home the car!

6. Safe Staying @ Impiana KLCC

If you thinking where to stay overnight in KL instead of staying at your friend's or relative's house, why not coming to Impiana KLCC? They are having a great reduction of the room rate for as low as RM150 (USD 35) per night. The advantage of staying here is the easy accessibility to the attractions in KL such as Suria KLCC shopping mall, KL tower, China Town and Kwai Chai Hong (more stories in next post).

picture credit to Wawa

To get into the hotel, there was only one entrance. The parking entrance linked directly to the hotel was closed. One needs to walk to the hotel front entrance to check-in with Selangkah app or write on the logbook. At the same time, the staff would measure your body temperature and encourage one to use the hand sanitiser before walk-in.

One of the body temperature scanners placed at the hotel cafe.

We dine at the hotel cafe. I was delighted with their individual hygienic packing of the cleansed utensils together with a tissue paper. What else? They also changed it after each course of the meal. I  never feel so confident about dining outside without worrying contracted with the disease.

Social distancing also implemented in the hotel elevator. Four persons were allowed at the same time inside while each of them should be standing at each corner.

This was not an easy time for all. Besides the government putting lots effort in combating the disease transmission through the country lock-down and implementing many economy recovery plans, it was not enough if we did not do our part. Frankly speaking, the private sector like those mentioned above also introduced a lot of safety measures on their premises and I would like to say they really spent effort in doing it.

We have the new norms now whereby we need to wear the face mask on when we head outside. I had a feeling like suffocated sometimes with my face mask on it when I was at a place when the air-conditioner was not functioning. But then everyone also experienced the same. With the face mask on, we are not only protecting ourselves but also the one we love by not contracting the disease and transmit to them. I believe this hard moment will going to pass by soon if everyone gives cooperation and practise the new norm as our government promoting all this while!

New norms:

• Social distancing
• Wear face mask
• No hug/ handshake
• Hand wash often/ hand sanitizing
• Having body temperature checking & registration of details