Yesterday, Malaysia’s 9th Prime Minister announced that Malaysia is now implementing restrictions on public movements. In Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s speech, he had announced that all business premises have to be shut down, except for outlets such as supermarkets and grocery stores selling daily essentials.
All government and private premises also will be closed during the movement control order, except for essential services such as utilities, telecommunications, transport, banking, health, pharmacies, ports, airports, cleaning and food supplies. According to the PM’s announcement, private facilities such as the cinemas will have to face close down as its one of the places where the masses gather. This is to avoid any kind of outbreak.
In line with the rules outlined by the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) will be temporarily closing their cinemas, postponing any events and suspending all movie screenings from the 18th to 31st of March 2020. According to the New Straits Times (NST), this temporary shut down is in line with the precautionary measures stated by the Malaysian Government to mitigate the outbreak of Covid-19.
The cinemas are a place where big numbers of people gather under a single roof and they remain at close distance throughout the length of a movie. With this temporary shut down, it helps safeguard the health of our community from potentially facing another outbreak. In the midst of restricted public movements, avid movie fans can still watch movies from the comforts of their very own home with other alternatives such as online streaming services.
Customers who have purchased their tickets prior to screening can seek for a refund. Purchases that were made online will be automatically refunded within 14 working days. Movie-goers who bought their ticket directly from the cinemas can hold on to their tickets for a refund after the end of the lockdown.
On their Twitter, GSC has also stated that they have stepped up their efforts to sanitise and clean their cinemas more frequently, primarily focusing on commonly used public facilities and amenities such as their e-ticketing kiosks, hand railings, escalators, door handles and cinema seats. They also added that the movie halls and seats are constantly cleaned after every screening.
According to NST, The Movement Control Order announced by the government entails a ban on mass gatherings for religious, sport, social and cultural activities. It also involves the closure of most business premises. The Movement Control Order by the government is imposed under the Prevention & Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, and the Police Act 1967.
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