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Mad rush to get Hari Raya essentials

Dear Diary,

It’s the eve of Hari Raya and Day 67 of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Supermarkets, hypermarkets and satay shops are packed.

Twentytwo13’s creative editor Amar Qastellani Tajuddin went to Kajang to collect his order from Willy Satay and was stunned to see hundreds of orders being prepared and packed.

Most people know Haji Samuri but many Kajang residents swear by Willy, and I do too. Just wish Amar had told me he was ordering as I could have added on for my family!

With visiting restricted to close family members, it meant not only would I not be getting any satay, the only way of getting any rendang was to make it myself.

Sadly, I misplaced the recipe I usually use to make rendang tok so followed the Captain’s advice.

Having found one, my wife and I headed to Mydin but there were too many cars trying to get in.

The reason Mydin was the first choice is that it usually has a ‘rendang corner’ so one needn’t shop around too much.

It is a time saver and most years during Hari Raya I head there to get my rendang essentials.

Since it was too crowded, we turned into Giant. Parking was easy but the queue to enter the shopping area was too long and we decided to drive to Matahari instead.

While there was also a long queue, we didn’t have to wait too long.

Once again the scanner on the Facebook app couldn’t connect to the selangkah.my app which is being used to track customers. I had this problem in Bukit Jelutong on Thursday but thought it was a bug.

My compliments to the staff manning the entrance.

When he observed the app hadn’t recorded my details, he asked to register manually or to try WeChat, which I did.

But what if he wasn’t paying attention? Would customers just scan and walk away?

After all, some have given false names – Batman and Superman among them – so it isn’t far-fetched to think several would just scan the QR code without ensuring their details have been recorded.

So well done to the staff once again for making sure every customer’s details were recorded.

The only downside, as usual, was that not many bothered about physical distancing – although everyone was wearing a mask and some even had gloves on.

I guess people just go crazy when they see fresh meat and produce.

Meanwhile, I received a pleasant surprise when Datin Ida Seatter, mother of former race car driver Natasha Seatter presented me with a Hari Raya gift.

The entrepreneur, who actively helps several charities, is a fan of Twentytwo13 and has been reading ‘The MCO Diaries’ every day.

“I ordered several gifts for the needy and some extras to distribute to my non-Muslim friends. I believe everyone should join in the festivities,” said Ida.

“Times are difficult for everyone so I’m trying to spread some cheer around. Hari Raya is a good time to share.”

Thank you Datin, the daging dendeng and ketupat will go nicely with my rendang and lemang.

Here are the daily updates.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob now says interstate travel will be allowed if one has a job offer and a police permit. He also says Rukun Tetangga can resume duties.

There are 48 new cases which take the total to 7,185. There are no new deaths and fatalities remain at 115 while 53 patients were discharged meaning 5,912 people have been cured.

Meanwhile, Auditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid, has tested positive for Covid-19. The matter was confirmed by the National Audit Department after an internal memo stating the Deputy Auditor-General (Performance) will assume the duties of the Auditor-General had been leaked.

This comes after a statement from the Prime Minister’ office yesterday that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had chaired a post-Cabinet meeting on Wednesday which was attended by an officer who had tested positive for Covid-19.

Selamat Hari Raya everyone.