Few and far between: Vacant lots are evident at the Taman Taynton View night market in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur due to low trader presence. — SS KANESAN/ The Star
TRADERS who have not been operating at designated night markets or pasar malam in Kuala Lumpur risk losing their trading licence if they continue to be a no-show at these sites.
This stern warning came after night market organisers observed the presence of fewer traders at their respective locations.
Some night markets had only a quarter of its traders showing up.
Kuala Lumpur Night Market Association (PMKL) secretary Charles James Roy said it was conducting a census at all such sites in the city.
The census is expected to be completed this month and will be handed over to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
“Since April, night markets have been allowed to operate at full force.
Food and groceries are popular at the night market along Jalan SS2/63 in Petaling Jaya.
“However, several night markets have been having poor trader turnout.
“This has caused a financial burden for the night market organisers who collect a token fee to manage traffic and also for cleaning services,” he told StarMetro.
Charles said because the trading spots were assigned, absent traders were depriving newcomers who wished to trade at night markets.
“Quite a number of traders have expressed interest in trading at some of the night markets in Cheras but I could not give the space to them because the lots were already allocated,” he explained.
Charles said various reasons were given by traders for their absence.
“Some said they were too old to continue, but I am puzzled as to why some others are absent.
“I can only deduce they are trading elsewhere,” he added.
DBKL Licensing and Hawker Development Department director Khairul Anuar Mhd Juri said it would issue show-cause letters to night market licence holders who have not been trading at their designated locations.
“Licence holders must trade according to the licensing requirements.
“Those who sublet their lots or are absent without justifiable reasons risk having their licences revoked.
“Further action will be taken if they fail to respond to the show cause letter,” he said.
Merging some sites
Meanwhile, there are proposals to merge night markets that are continuously seeing a drop in trader and visitor attendance.
Federation of Petty Traders and Hawkers Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur complaints bureau chief Deric Teh said the association was looking into making night markets more viable.
He said locations which catered to the younger crowd were much better at attracting visitors.
On a typical trading day, the Kepong Baru night market sees traders taking up 90% of the lots available. — Photos: CHAN TAK KONG and SS KANESAN/The Star
“In areas like Kepong Baru, the crowd comes in waves and the night markets can go on well after 10pm on some nights.
“Smaller ones typically in housing areas are only active from 5pm to 8pm, with some traders closing by 9pm,” he said.
Teh said although some traders had left the night market business during the Covid-19 pandemic, younger traders had stepped in to fill the void.
However, this has been happening mostly at popular night market sites.
“Overall, there has been an increase in visitors and transactions but this is still not enough to offset inflation as customers are sensitive to higher prices,” Teh said.
“Additionally, since the pandemic, many tend to stay at home once they return from work.
“Some traders are fortunate to have loyal customers while others have to risk raising prices.”
Teh believes that smaller night market venues face being dropped altogether.
“The association will maintain fees for cleaning, security and administration for as long as possible to reduce the impact on the traders’ livelihoods.“
The Setia Alam night market in Shah Alam bustling with customers in search of groceries, food, clothing and accessories.
But if visitors continue to dwindle and traders leave, it may not make sense to keep the night markets open.
“If we merge night markets, we must ensure that both traders and visitors benefit from the move before proposing it to DBKL,” he said, adding that the Taman Kok Doh night market in Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur was one of the sites not doing well.
Petaling Jaya Night Market Association secretary Ken Lee said some new traders had filled up empty spots at certain locations with high footfall.
However, he noted that increased competition and rising prices left traders worried.
“Because of inflation, hawkers’ profits are thinning and increased competition makes it harder to sell.
“Ingredients are getting expensive and it has also been difficult for me to hire workers to produce enough baked goods to supply several night markets.
“The shortage of local workers also forced me to cut back on trading at some locations in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
“Many traders prefer taking on e-hailing jobs or selling their products online,” he said.
Moving into food trucks
However, Lee noted that some of those who left the night market trade to start food truck businesses have been affected.
“They are facing stiff competition like us, but also need to repay loans taken to start their new business
“The association also plans to work with the food truck community to occupy empty lots at night markets.
The number of absent traders at the Taman Taynton View pasar malam is creating a financial burden for night market organisers.
“We will discuss this with our councillor and the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) as we would like to utilise the open space next to the SS2 night market to draw more visitors,” he said.
Ati Kaur prefers to get her fruits and vegetables from the Chow Yang night market in SS2 Petaling Jaya as the produce is fresh.
Although she noticed that there are fewer stalls, the traders she patronises are still there.
“The prices have definitely gone up and some traders, such as those selling popiah and apam balik, now impose a minimum order of two pieces.”
StarMetro visited five night markets located at Kepong Baru, Jinjang and Taman Taynton View in Kuala Lumpur, the Chow Yang and SS2 night markets in Petaling Jaya as well as the Setia Alam night market in Shah Alam, Selangor.
Three out of the five were found to be doing well.
The turnout was poor at the Taman Taynton View and Chow Yang night markets.
In Taman Taynton View on a Thursday night, only 27 out of 105 traders had showed up.
Empty lots were very visible, resulting in a limited selection of items at the night market.
Fruit trader Maggie Ling said the number of traders has been dwindling.
“Traders used to take up the whole 300m stretch of Jalan Mutiara Barat 6. Now, those who used to trade at the end of the road have moved up to fill the empty lots.
“I used to earn RM400 to RM500 selling fruits but now, I barely make RM300 a day,” she said.
It was a similar situation at the Chow Yang night market on a Thursday, where only Jalan SS2/10 was fully occupied while only one-third of Jalan SS2/6 was taken up by traders.
At the Setia Alam night market, traders are back to trading in the middle of Jalan Setia Prima A U13/A.
Previously, they were only allowed to trade at the roadside to observe physical distancing.
At the Kepong Baru night market on Sunday, there was a sizable crowd by 5pm along Jalan Mergastua.
Teh, who is Kepong Hawkers and Petty Traders Association vice-chairman, said more than 300 out of 350 traders – mostly food stalls – operated that day.
Nasi lemak stall operator Calvin Ong said though he saw a higher number of customers compared to last year, he was making about 30% less now because of rising prices.
“We used to have 19 workers but had to let go of nine of them because of the pandemic.
“We are lucky to have regular customers but everything has more or less doubled in price now,” he said.
At the main SS2 night market in the commercial area, things were back in full swing with rows of stalls packed along Jalan SS2/61, SS2/63 and SS2/60.
The place was bustling with activity even before 5pm on a Monday.
The crowd gravitated towards food and beverages while stalls selling produce seemed less busy.
A trader who sells household goods and wanted to be known only as Tan, said while visitors had increased over the past months, his business did not benefit much.
“As you can see, most of the stalls are selling food and groceries,” he said.
Tan continues to trade there because of existing inventory.
“I still have customers and it is enough to get by, but I may be forced to charge more as the cost of living is going up,” he added.
