SANDAKAN: For decades, the tamu (morning market) in Gum Gum, a township at Mile 16 on Sabah’s east coast, bustled with traders and customers from nearby villages.
Under simple umbrellas and wooden tables, the market served as a daily lifeline for the community.
Today, that vibrancy has faded. Since traders were moved to a new tamu structure three years ago, what was intended as an upgrade has left them battling heat, rainwater splashes and a drastic drop in visitors.
The redesigned space has, for many, become a tougher place to earn a living.
Rohani Lasang, 57, who has sold at the market for nearly 40 years, described the decline as heartbreaking.
"When it rains, the water still splashes in. When it’s hot, the heat gets trapped. The roof is too high, the place is too open," she said.
"Back then, hundreds of people used to sell here. Now it’s only a handful of us."
Although many signed up for stalls in the new market, most refused to operate after seeing the lack of customers.
"How do you attract people when there are so few traders?" Rohani said.
Trader Darimah Bacho, 60, said the current layout is uncomfortable for both buyers and sellers.
"We’re just trying to make a living, but the heat and the splashing rain make it difficult," she said.
She added that the rise of small estate markets nearby, mostly without permits, has further reduced foot traffic, leaving Gum Gum’s tamu struggling to stay relevant.
"If the next YB can just fix the roofing and make the space more comfortable, that would already help us survive," Darimah said.
Former Gum Gum assemblyman Arunarnsin Taib, who oversaw the current structure’s construction, said it was only Phase One of a larger redevelopment plan that halted after the 2020 government change.
"The design they see now is not the final version. The completed plan included better roofing, ventilation, clearer zoning, and improved flow for traders and customers," he explained.
He had also hoped to transform the market into a tourism stop, working with the Tourism Ministry to ensure visitors would stop at Gum Gum before heading to nearby attractions.
"I finished the planning in 2019. If it hadn’t stopped, the entire project would have been completed by now," he said.
Arunarnsin stressed the redevelopment was for the benefit of all traders, not for political interests.
"It wasn’t built for any particular group. It was for every trader who depended on this market," he said.
Now, the weight of the unfinished plan is felt most by the traders who open their stalls each morning, hoping for customers who may or may not appear.
