Chairil Anwar Sabar led an enviable lifestyle as he ran his own profitable firm, owned a comfortable house and a few vehicles, and could afford to spend thousands of ringgit a month.

Then came the Covid-19 crisis and the movement control order (MCO), which caused his business to nosedive.

Chairil Anwar, who is in his 50s, started his own small metal stamping enterprise in Rawang, Selangor, 13 years ago and built it up from scratch...