The Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) has assured golf clubs that they are actively engaging with the government to push for the game’s resumption in view of the severe financial pressure brought on by the current lockdown. The latest efforts include a letter to the Prime Minster, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Golf courses and driving ranges throughout Malaysia have been shut since early May due to the third Movement Control Order, with many being pushed to their financial thresholds. According to the MGA, the golf club industry in Malaysia is estimated to employ more than 38,000 people. The subsequent tightening of restrictions also saw golf retail outlets having to suspend operations.
“A letter dated 18 June 2021 was issued to the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, wherein MGA had appealed for the resumption of all golf related activities effective 1 July, 2021,” MGA president Admiral Tan Sri Dato’ Setia Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor (R) noted in a statement issued recently.
The statement also explained that the MGA has initiated several meetings with officials from the National Security Council, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Youth & Sports and the National Sports Council, and that “central to the argument that was presented to the government for the expeditious reopening of golf clubs was the fact that the golfing industry has over the years significantly contributed towards the financial and economic growth of the nation as an economic activity.”
Tan Sri Anwar added that caddies employed by the golf clubs are low-income earners and that the Movement Control Order has deprived them of their daily fees and incentives.
MGA honorary secretary Dato’ Zulkifli Ismail revealed that a survey of golf clubs painted a bleak picture of the financial impact that the pandemic has had on the industry.
“From the survey, it is evident that apart from those golf clubs that remain as subsidiaries of listed companies, the greater number of golf clubs that are privately owned would most certainly experience insolvency challenges and many may be forced to cease operations as early as July 2021,” said Dato’ Zulkifli, adding that some golf clubs in smaller towns will be forced to retrench their employees if operations are not allowed to resume soon.
The MGA also noted that they have sent letters of appeal to the state governments to waive this year’s quit rent for golf clubs. The association is also working with its commercial partners on an online booking platform to eliminate the need for golfers to congregate in numbers at registration counters.
“Notwithstanding the recently announced National Recovery Plan by the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia to manage the pandemic, MGA will continue to engage with all officials to hasten the reopening of golf clubs while being always mindful that the ultimate decision will rest with the Government of Malaysia,” the MGA statement concluded.
