Sound check: A deejay testing out equipment at a bar in TREC KL, Jalan Tun Razak, in preparation for its reopening. (Mask was removed briefly for the photo.) — LOW BOON TAT/The Star
A TOTAL of 788 days — that is how long nightclubs have been prohibited from operating.
Now that they have been given the green light to resume business from May 15, everyone associated with the entertainment industry is looking forward to the day when dance floors can come alive again.
Nightspots in Kuala Lumpur are readying themselves with sound and light checks, and wooing their former staff back to serve customers on the big day.
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As they rejoiced over the good news, some stakeholders recalled the uncertainty they had to face in the past two years, not knowing if or when they could resume their jobs and activities.
Shamalen learned the importance of being able to adapt when his livelihood as a deejay was hit hard.
One of them is deejay Shamalen Maheswaran, 27, who is thankful that keeping up with his skills means that he is fully booked from May 15.
“Since news of the lifting of the prohibition was announced, I had a lot of people calling me for gigs.
“I had to find ways to accommodate clients. It’s gonna be a busy year for me,” he said happily.
When the restrictions imposed by the movement control order put the brakes on his livelihood, Shamalen had to give up his rented apartment in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, and move back to his hometown in Melaka.
Though it meant taking a 75% pay cut, he decided to work as a waiter at an international resort chain in Desaru, Johor, for eight months.
“I went through a rough patch but where there is no struggle, there is no strength,” he said, adding that his mother reminded him to pray and not give up hope.
Shamalen is grateful to his family for keeping his spirits up and not allowing him to let his deejay skills get rusty.
“My elder brother and our close friends encouraged me to perform online and release mixtapes,” he said.
One such online performance would earn him and 123 other deejays recognition in the Malaysia Book of Records.
From Aug 21 to 30 in 2020, they performed online for 228 hours with no breaks.
After standing empty and quiet for more than two years, bars, nightclubs and lounges in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre are eager to welcome patrons once again after receiving the green light from the government.
Shamalen’s slot was on Aug 29 from 4am to 6am.
The event ended at midnight on Aug 30 to ring in National Day.
Now Shamalen is looking forward to this May 15 as his schedule is fully booked.
To get ready for his gigs, he downloaded tonnes of new music and has gone back to promoting his services on social media to spread the word that he is back.
Though he had not bought any new equipment for the reopening, he did invest some RM500 in music pools so that his audience would be able to enjoy a flow of new music.
Shamalen will also be showing off some new skills and mashups to ensure he is able to provide party guests with a new line-up.
The increased demand for his services has allowed him to pick and choose his clients.
“My main criteria is that my clients must be trustworthy where payments are concerned.
“I will also ensure that we have agreements in black-and-white first to avoid any possible disputes in the event that nightclubs are ordered to shut again.
“My terms for now are that my clients must either put a 50% downpayment or pay upfront in full,” he said.
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Ready from the word ‘go’
For nightclub owner Shyam Thakur, the lifting of the prohibition will see him launching the upstairs portion of his lounge.
Having opened his first bar in 2017 at TREC KL, the 39-year-old entrepreneur from New Delhi, India, set up two outlets between 2021 and 2022, also at the food and beverage hub.
Over the coming week, nightclubs at TREC KL will be carrying out full cleaning, disinfection and repairs. — Photos: LOW BOON TAT and LOW LAY PHON/The Star
In fact, his workforce grew from 16 to 43 during these two years.
That was possible as he had obtained the necessary licences to serve food and liquor as well as provide entertainment, like deejay performances, when he opened his first outlet.
“From the very beginning, I realised that if I only operated as a nightclub, there would be only one source of revenue.
“So, I decided that my concept would be to open as a restaurant from 5pm to 10pm. After that, I would have a deejay come in to play music.
“When entertainment activities like live bands and deejay performances were prohibited during the MCO, we were able to fall back on our restaurant and bar licence,” he said.
As such, Shyam said his trained and experienced employees were all set for May 15.
“As soon as the SOP on nightclub operations is issued, we will be ready to grab business opportunities as they come up.
“We will have famous artistes and promotional deals on food and drinks.
“We will also be launching customer loyalty programmes,” he said, adding that he had to pay more to lure better talents and artistes to his club.
“Some of them had changed professions but when we called them, they obliged because they truly love their art,” said Shyam.
He managed to retain his key workforce, which is 70% Malaysians, as he continued to provide them with accommodation, food and basic pay when the prohibition on nightclubs and pubs was in force.
Shyam and his partners plan to open four more outlets in addition to the ones at TREC KL.
“All these outlets are based on the restaurant-and-bar concept as this will put us on a more stable footing, especially if restrictions are imposed again,” he added.
Lim says DBKL’s website has been down since April 29 and will only be back up on May 9.Set SOP, speed up licences
Five months after the MCO was announced, Jeremy Lim, 41, took on the role of media liaison for Restaurant and Bistro Owners Association, for which he is vice-president.
Since then, Lim has been voicing the sentiments of his peers.
The latest concern among nightclub operators is that Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) eLesen website has been undergoing maintenance and upgrades since April 29.
A check revealed that the website will only be back in operations on May 9.
During this period, the counter at the DBKL Licensing and Business Development Department will also be closed.
“The website is the only way for entertainment licences to be renewed.
“If the site is down, how are the business owners going to renew their licences?
“Hopefully, the mayor and the related licensing bodies can speed things up in time for May 15,” said Lim in expressing disappointment that the website has been down for such an extended period of time.
“I hope by May 15, nightclub operators should be able to get the white card, at least,” he said.
He explained that the understanding among operators was that those holding a white card would be able to operate for 30 days before receiving their official approvals.
If no approval is granted within this time frame, the operator will have to obtain another stamp from DBKL to carry on with business. There is no charge for stamping.
“We encourage all operators in Kuala Lumpur to apply for renewal directly at the DBKL website.
“If there are any questions or if they need assistance, they can either email or call the hotline directly,” he advised.
While awaiting the National Security Council (NSC) and Health Ministry to announce the latest SOP, many businesses in the entertainment sector are in the process of rehiring their previous workforce.
“If we are able to have a definite answer on capacity or activity limitations, this will help the industry determine how many staff can be rehired,” said Lim.
According to him, 60% of the businesses’ former staff at present are ready to return.
However, he said that even if the old crew returned, retraining was needed for service and bar teams.
“Hopefully, our customers will allow for some mistakes and continue to support our industry,” he added.
Generally, most operators will be doing refresher sessions on service, drinks and – eventually – SOP issued by the authorities, said Lim.
He opined that the one good thing that had come out of the Covid-19 pandemic was that it had brought industry players closer.
“Before this, we were not banded together due to the competitive nature of our business,” he pointed out.
He said the association’s office-bearers hoped to continue their engagement with the Health Ministry, NSC and the district police on nightlife SOP.
“This is to ensure that all parties are aligned in terms of interpretation, to avoid confusion that may interrupt business operations in future,” Lim added.
Lam says six new tenants have signed up to be part of TREC KL since the announcement.
TREC Holdings general manager Kelvin Lam, 40, said the company would be hiring additional staff for its operations team.
“In the next few days, nightclubs will be carrying out full cleaning, disinfection, repairs and fine-tuning of sound, lights, visual and audio systems.
“Many are ordering stocks as well as arranging deejay performances, music band line-ups, theme nights and drink promotions,” he noted.
He revealed that the management had also created new leasing packages for investors.
TREC KL, said Lam, used to have some 50 tenants which had since shrunk to 25.
But following the government’s announcement, six new tenants are coming onboard, he said.
“All of us have been praying for this day to come and it finally has,” he added.
