Penang's entrepreneur ventures live broadcasting to sell lanterns amid pandemic

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic affecting businesses, one store in Penang has come out with new tricks to keep its business alive.

Maxim Group founder Pang Khek Seng said the company organised live broadcasting sessions through the social media page to promote its traditional lantern in conjunction with the upcoming mooncake festival, which falls on Oct 1 this year.

“So far, the response from the live broadcast has been good and we may consider doing more of it,” he told Bernama during an interview recently.

Pang, who is also the director of Tai Tong dim sum restaurant, said that the lanterns had always been an attraction for Malaysians and foreigners in the restaurant with the approaching of the mooncake festival.

A visit to the restaurant at Lebuh Cintra here found that more than 2,000 colourful glass paper lanterns hung inside premises and they were for sale, with the price ranging between RM12 and RM45 each.

“However, due to the pandemic and the international travel ban, we may lose up to around 50 per cent of our sales (on lanterns),” said Pang.

He said that although the recovery stage of the Movement Control Order has started to see a gradual increase in the arrival of customers, he hoped the pandemic would be over soon as possible so businesses can recover faster.

“Nonetheless, we are fortunate enough that Malaysia is one of the countries that handles the pandemic situation very well and we should be thankful for that,” he added.

-- BERNAMA