Forum: Focus on bringing back restaurant dining

Tables and chairs stacked up inside Food Junction at Junction 8 shopping mall in Bishan, on May 05, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

The financial stability of our dollar will be affected in a negative manner should we continue with massive bailouts and subsidies of taxes and salaries. Ours is not a reserve currency, and the Government cannot print money indiscriminately.

The economy really needs to be liberated from Covid-19-related constraints, and while opening up in phases is prudent, perhaps more urgency and speed need to be applied (Easing of measures like 'stress test' to see what works, May 21).

We should look at adopting measures taken by other places that have successfully handled the scourge - there's no need to reinvent the wheel.

Restaurants bring zest and vibrancy to malls and should be resuscitated more quickly. By limiting numbers of diners and establishing stringent social distancing, Hong Kong and Taiwan have managed to restart or continue operating their restaurants without surges in active infections.

High-risk dining such as buffets or steamboat ventures may have to take a back seat, as with boisterous toasting, drunken revelry or high-decibel conversations.

Entrances to malls, and indeed most businesses, already make use of the national digital check-in system SafeEntry, which is an efficient and reliable way of tracing contacts of affected individuals.

Yik Keng Yeong (Dr)

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 23, 2020, with the headline Forum: Focus on bringing back restaurant dining. Subscribe