A walk to remember

Photo: LIM BENG TATT/The Star

RAMADAN bazaars are a highlight of the fasting month, from the bustle to the sensory overload of smells and sights the moment you step into one.

Unlike a typical night market that operates once a week, these bazaars’ constant presence over the length of a month reshapes the neighbourhoods they reside in. They transform boring streets filled with cars – whether parked or stuck in traffic – into thriving social spaces for businesses that are best enjoyed on foot.

You can’t enjoy the smell of good food cooking when speeding past inside a car!

Ramadan bazaars let us imagine what a city that puts people’s needs ahead of vehicles can look like. Parking lots reclaimed for hawkers, entire streets made walkable, with some bazaars even offering on-street seating to enjoy the food while it’s still hot.

The different, slower vibe that comes with walking can surprise residents who otherwise only drive to their local commercial areas to run a single errand, then leave. This is even more impactful for visiting shoppers who go to a new bazaar and stay on to explore the neighbourhood after.

Walking without a specific goal in mind, exploring an area and trying street food also has a sense of nostalgia. It reminds us of how walking can be a leisure activity, not just something we do to get from point A to B.

Knowing how busy Ramadan bazaars are, sensible shoppers are starting to explore alternative ways to get to the more popular ones. Many high profile ones, like Kuala Lumpur’s established Taman Tun Dr Ismail bazaar or the newer Stadium Merdeka bazaars, are easily accessible by public transport like MRT and the Monorail.

Getting people out of cars and into public transport and the habit of walking will help reduce the worst behaviour of the fasting month such as inconsiderate illegal parking clogging up streets around bazaars or office workers getting stuck in traffic during the rush home before iftar and losing their temper.

A recent report by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia found Klang Valley motorists waste an average of 24 days a year stuck in traffic, which will only get worse if more people start driving.

More importantly, getting people familiar with these reclaimed, protected walking spaces can make them realise how walking is a comfortable and viable way to get around when safely separated from cars.

Hopefully, realising we are all pedestrians at some points in our lives can develop our empathy for other pedestrians when we are the ones driving. Currently, the statistics are grim. In Kuala Lumpur alone, Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department data from 2022 to 2023 recorded 50 pedestrians killed in road crashes.

Ramadan bazaar operators aren’t the only beneficiaries of this economic opportunity. Bazaars located in commercial areas can attract visitors to patronise local stores, whether to grab a few items at the pharmacy or DIY store, or pay bills at a telco office.

Australian think tank Victoria Transport Policy Institute, in its 2025 report “Economic Value of Walkability”, said that while customers who arrive by vehicle spend more per trip, pedestrians are more likely to be regulars, coming to a commercial area several times throughout the week and spending more over the period.

To those that think leisure walking is only something to do when holidaying in other countries, more Malaysians are taking a shine to walkable tourist spots in Kuala Lumpur, like the recently reopened Sultan Abdul Samad building, the ever bustling Pasar Seni area and even the “I Lite U” light festival, which completely closed a 1km stretch of Bukit Bintang for three nights, from Jan to 3.

As we move forward, why not take this model of reclaimed space and make cities safer and more interesting to walk in, even beyond Ramadan?

QISHIN TARIQ

Kuala Lumpur

The writer is a road safety advocate and member of several active mobility and road safety organisations.