Barter system: Tammin (right) exchanging food with another trader. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Unsold food at Ramadan bazaars here is sent to mosques and orphanages so that it does not go to waste.
State trade, industry, and entrepreneurial development committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain said mosque committees will then distribute the food to poor families in the area while orphans get to break their fast with the unsold food.
“There are also people from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who will collect the food and send it to the homeless and hardcore poor families. This is something that has been in practice for years,” he said.
Abdul Halim said that there are some 2,000 food and drink traders operating at Ramadan bazaars statewide.
Penang Muslim League deputy president Datuk Shahul Hameed Syed Mohamed said that unsold food at the bazaar organised by the league in Queen Street is donated to nearby mosques.
Mee goreng and pasembur seller Tammin Razali, 39, who operates at the Ramadan bazaar in front of Prangin Mall, said business has been good but there were days when he would have leftovers.
“Whatever ingredients that cannot be kept for the next day, I would exchange for food with nearby traders. Most of the time, I would just distribute the food to the homeless,” he said.
