Restaurants are under tremendous strain from the indefinite freeze on the intake of foreign workers for services by the Government.<\/p>\n
According to the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (PRESMA), if the freeze\u00a0is not lifted soon, the 24-hour mamak<\/em> restaurants that Malaysia is famous for would be out of business.<\/p>\n More than 200 mamak<\/em> restaurants have ceased operation since the freeze was announced in January, said Noorul Hassan Saul Hameed, the president of PRESMA.<\/p>\n \u201cThe freeze is causing a strain to many of our members who cannot cope with the shortage of foreign workers.<\/p>\n \u201cMany have closed shop or ceased their 24-hour operations due to the shortage,\u201d he told The Star Online<\/em>.<\/p>\n This will likely continue if there\u2019s no concrete solution to the freeze being implemented, he warned. PRESMA\u00a0currently has 3,500 registered members.<\/p>\n The freeze was initially thought to be temporary, like what was done for the manufacturing, construction and agriculture sectors, but the pro-longed freeze has taken a toll on restaurant businesses.<\/p>\n