An unexpected and transmissible pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outburst in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (Wang et al., 2020). The world is suddenly stunned and recognizes COVID-19 as a worldwide public health concern. Coronavirus has spread much faster than scientists thought in almost all countries of the world. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic and a global public health emergency on March 11, 2020 (WHO, 2020). The World Health Organization has made various restraint plans such as closure of Government, non-government and educational institutions, markets, amusement parks and tourist spots, prohibition of large gatherings, ban on all forms of travel and complete lockdowns to avoid viral transmission for all the countries of the world (Ahmed et al, 2020; Pedersen and Meneghini, 2020; Patwary et al. 2021). Even after so much, many infected cases (about 602 million, with 6.49 million deaths) have been recorded (Our World, 2022). The unpredicted and life-threatening global pandemic has also severely affected Malaysia where about 4.78 million out of 33 million people confirmed cases with 36,210 deaths from January 25, 2020, to September 1, 2022 (Our World, 2022). A large religious gathering of 16,000 Muslims near the capital Kuala Lumpur was responsible for the rapid dispersion of COVID-19 cases, while another religious meeting held by Christians in Kuching, Sarawak also accountable for the swift spreading of coronavirus in Malaysia (Tan et al. 2022). Muslims are the majority in Peninsular Malaysia, while Christians lead the non-Malay community in Sabah and Sarawak, trailed by Buddhists, Hindus, and Atheists (Department of Statistics, 2020). Under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, the Malaysian Government implemented the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, 2020, to curb the spread of COVID-19. The MCO limited the movement of people by confining recreational, social, sports, cultural, and religious get-togethers. Traveling was banned nationwide, as also international leaving. The Government was forced to shut down the trades, industries, and government and private educational institutions. Considering the massive loss of livelihoods as all the institutions were closed, the Government introduced a Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) instead of an MCO on May 4, 2020. In CMCO, limited exits were allowed for emergency work, and an approval letter from employing organizations was mandatory for employees. The Government also allowed private transport with the condition that not more than four members living under the same roof could be taken as passengers. Public transport services were also permitted with half of the passengers. Besides, taxi cabs, e-cabs, rental cars, etc., run with two passengers (Yong and Sia, 2021). No more than 2 people can be seated at the table for dining. After that, the Government replaced the CMCO with Recovery MCO (RMCO) on June 10, 2020, which included work-related travel within Malaysia. It permitted the visit and house gatherings for social and religious festivities (Eid Al-Fitri, Pesta Kaamatan, Gawai Dayak Day, etc.). Any violation of MCO, CMCO, and RMCO's protocols would be punishable with a fine of up to RM1,000 or custody for up to six months, or both (Yong and Sia, 2021).
All Malaysians faced difficulties adopting the new lifestyle, handling the virus transmission, and worrying about family and friends. The stay-at-home condition was harmful to physical and mental health, increasing the chance of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and so on. The fear of COVID-19, such as sudden isolation, the anxiety of death, losing loved ones, and starvation, has fragile the mental and physical health, as well as the social and economic life of people (Pitol et al. 2022; Rajkumar 2020; Shammi et al. 2020; UN, 2020). Working from home, temporary unemployment, homeschooling children, and a lack of physical touch with other family members, relatives, and peers are all new realities that require time to adjust to (Abdull Rahman et al. 2021, 2022; Hossain et al. 2021; Pitol et al. 2022; Patwary et al. 2020, 2021, 2022 a b, c; Yong and Sia, 2021). However, it seemed that the mental and physical health condition varied for various demographic (age, family type, education level, marital status, occupation, etc.) and socioeconomic (income, religion, communication, and transport system, etc.) factors (Marzo et al. 2021, Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). It was found that depression and anxiety disorders were more common for unmarried than married people while females than males, students than services holders, and city people than rural (Marzo et al. 2021).
Moreover, the stay-at-home condition made people obese and altered their food habits (Chin et al. 2022, Tan et al. 2022). People uptook more caffeine and consumed more medicine during MCO, CMCO, and RMCO. The Malaysian Chinese males under 24 living on varsity campus consumed more sugar-sweetened caffeine beverages (Chang & Lau, 2022) while Malaysian women prepared coffee at home instead of walking out to buy coffee in the market (Ali & Ramanathan, 2021), which increased their weight during MCO, CMCO, and RMCO. The movement's cessation carried the economic shutdown in Malaysia. Between January 11 and March 16, 2020, about 170,000 hotel reservations were canceled (Foo et al. 2020), impacting the number of Malaysians who travel and take staycations. The cessation negatively impacts typical forms of exercise and sports activities, primarily the young adults affect the most (Harris et al. 2022). However, the restriction on movement also changed people's relaxation and daily activities. People began to read and listen to internet news regarding COVID-19 and used phone and online channels to contact family and friends. People were forced to perform their prayers at home, while many worship mansions worldwide have abandoned traditional physical worship and prayers (Tan et al., 2022). The playing time of video and online games also increased. Because of the closure of all cinemas, people were forced to watch movies and dramas online via Disney Plus, HBO Max, and Netflix (Rahman and Arif, 2021). He reported that the minimum watching time of drama series and movies was 70 hours each month, while the majority showed the "one more episode" syndrome during the stay-at-home condition. Moreover, buying various household chores and groceries online was a fashion during this period. Especially young people of 18–34 years were more likely to purchase products online, and most people buy their products from Shopee (the largest e-commerce site in Malaysia) (Suhaidi, 2022).
Considering all aspects of COVID-19, this study particularly examined the lifestyles among Malaysians, as explained by their sociocultural variables. We perform Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Post-Hoc Appraisals to reach our objectives. We hypothesized that the lifestyles during COVID-19 were significantly distinct amongst gender, marital status, race, age, educational level, employment sector, or monthly gross income. We also assumed that the findings of our study also revealed which demographic variables of Malaysians were disproportionately stricken by COVID-19 and may need to alter their habits drastically. Based on this relationship, the determinants of Malaysians' lifestyles during COVID-19 can be more completely identified in the framework presented in Fig. 1.