JOHOR BARU: The heavy rains since last week have affected traders hoping for early sales at a Deepavali bazaar here.
“It has been raining every day since I opened my stall here on Sept 28. The rainy weather has definitely affected our sales, “ said S. Kesavan, 25, who sells jewellery at one of the stalls, adding that business has not picked up despite the reopening of the border with Singapore.
“On some days, it rains from morning until late at night. People are not that keen to come out in such weather,” he said when met at the bazaar yesterday.
He was, however, relieved that despite the heavy rain, there have been no floods.
K. Shalini, 39, who sells traditional clothes, is expecting crowds from Singapore in the coming weekends.
“We expect to see business improving this year as this will be the first time we are able to welcome Singaporean customers since the pandemic.
“It is normal to get fewer customers on rainy days,” she said.
Cookie seller V. Sumathi, 48, also said it would take some time for the bazaar to attract customers.
“It has only been about a week since we opened our stalls. Things are not looking so good right now because of the rain, but we hope business will pick up soon.
“We expect to see more people coming despite the rain as Deepavali draws closer,” she said.
