Once upon a time, we went to the cinemas

7 Sep – The Malaysian Association of Film Exhibitors (MAFE) is relieved to hear that its plea has caught the attention of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

In a recent tweet, Annuar Musa stated that he is aware about the situations of the Malaysian cinema business and that he has taken the issue to the National Security Council along with other creative industry-related matters.

"God willing, the government will make an announcement soon," he added.

The Minister's tweet raises the hopes of those employed in the cinema industry

MAFE Secretary, Sisubalan Ehambaram, who was asked about the said tweet, stated that he is thankful for the response from the Ministry.

"Our cinema industry has been waiting for this happy news from the government for such a long time. We've wanted this after it was revealed that other activities including dining in and sports and recreation were allowed," he said.

MAFE previously promised to implement more enhanced SOPs in line with other countries abroad where cinemas have been allowed to reopen, seeing that the industry has been badly affected by the pandemic. This includes:

• Admittance to fully vaccinated audiences (only 14 days after second dose) – with proof of digital certificate of COVID-19 vaccination
• Encouraging contactless purchases for movie tickets & F&B
• Manning of cinemas by fully vaccinated staff members
• Enhanced PPEs for staff including double masking and face shields

It is noted that there has been no COVID-19 cases that originated from cinema theatres, and yet the industry has been one of the most affected.