Marketplaces - A culture & way of life

Recently, a rather famous grocer by the name of Pasar Raya Taman Tun in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) decided it was best to close-up shop. At first it was only rumors/hearsay, but later confirmed by the owner, who cited reasons of slowing business among others. Put together with the ever-increasing cost of rent, and it was simply no longer sustainable to keep the grocer running. To the residents of TTDI and surrounding townships, this grocer was very popular to say the least. Partly due to the fact it had been around for a very long time, and highly probable because of how community-oriented it was. At least, that was what attracted my grandparents/parents and I to frequent said grocer back in the day.

In light of this recent closure of the Pasar Raya Taman Tun, I decided to pay a visit to another iconic marketplace in the area, one that my grandparents and I used to never fail to go to on weekends, the Pasar Besar Taman Tun Dr Ismail. But this time, I went alone & I conducted interviews of my own with the shop-owners here, in order to get to know them more personally. By talking to them & asking the necessary questions, I was able to identify the trials & tribulations faced in their daily operations, and what they hope to see change for their beloved "pasar" (market) so more crowds & foot-fall can be pulled to once again embrace this culture & lifestyle of buying goods the old-fashioned way. Bear in mind that I have no vested interest in writing this, it is merely for my own gain in knowledge as well as sharing with others on the existence of these business and the marketplace. Raising awareness, if you must. This market - both dry and wet, was to be the main marketplace here. This alongside the Pasar Raya Taman Tun were the only go-to places at the time here for your daily needs; be it fruits, veggies or livestock. Of course, many other provisions and commodities can be found here. By doing this write-up, I hope to ultimately pay homage to this once iconic marketplace & shed some light to you readers on the small businesses housed here & their friendly owners who were excited just at the sight of a stranger taking interest in their business/shop and wanting to write about them.

Before I converge the focus of this write-up on the businesses & shops here at this Pasar Besar Taman Tun, I'll share some background info and a brief introduction regarding the market as a whole. This market was proposed as part of the development plan for TTDI back in 1982, and would act as a replacement for Central Market in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, initially the main wet market in & around KL but later on earmarked & developed to become a cultural center. The market began operations in 1985, which means that it's been around for almost 35 years now. It is a multi-level market that is home to numerous businesses owned by people of various backgrounds & ethnicity. A truly diverse market, products-wise & personnel-wise. The ambiance & vibe here exudes a sense of "Asian-ness" which you get from the people around and from the structure itself. Sadly, it is apparently only highly patronized by expats and the amount of locals that come & shop at the market are in very low numbers.

The ground floor of the market features perishable goods such as fruits, vegetables, meats, fish along with a few retail/convenience stores that deals with various commodities ie: sauces, curry powders, canned items and so on. Even a herbal/traditional medicine store can be found here! Items like ginseng roots & gingko leaves are on display and for sale. The first floor features a food court, baking supply stores, tailors, postal/stamping service shops, and my favorite - vintage items stores! There are 2 vintage items stores, one dealing in items such as old cameras & video recorders while the other deals with vinyls & cassettes among other music items. The vinyls store showcases and deals with the buying & selling of classical albums - both local & international artists. Although, the focus is mainly on artists from Malaysia and around Southeast Asia (SEA) - namely artists such as Sudirman Hj Arshad, P Ramlee, Saloma, Adnan Othman & many, many more. Listening to these classics really threw me back to an era much forgotten in the history of this country. Maybe I should request for my grandfather's vinyl player to be passed on to me and look to purchase some vinyls for myself? Seems like an exciting venture to me. Before I forget, there is also a section designated for bacon-lovers too! Located at the lower-ground floor, next to the car-park.

Enough with looking at the market as a whole, I'll do my best to curate what I had learned from my brief interviews with each shop-owner by making summaries of sorts for each shop. Some of the questions asked were along the lines of -

What type of commodity/goods are they dealing with?
How long have they been operating here & do they operate anywhere else?
Do they have an online platform? (Be it for sales or marketing)
What is their main mode of income (ie: regular customers/new customers) & do they supply to any businesses (ie: restaurants/cafes)?
What improvements do they hope to see in years to come for their marketplace & the industry as a whole?

Let's have a look:

Liza Chili Rempah-Rempah

Deals mainly with spices, seasoning - such as Sambal Belacan, Sambal Tumis, Green Curry, Bunga Lawas (Star Anise) & many more. She has them readily-packaged or if you choose to, can buy them by the kilo. Most of her produce being sold have already been sauteed & customers are only left to pick & choose what they require. Although, she does have each product prior to being sauteed as well. Not to mention, all her products are made/prepared from home!
Operating here for roughly 25 years, Aunty Liza has only this 1 branch. Originally she set up shop at the open-air market in SS2 but could not handle the high rental rates, and high-cost for the license to operate whilst also trying to overcome the difficulties of being provided a very non-strategic location. Over here, the rental rates are very low.
She does not have her own online platform but says that she has many loyal customers that have helped promote & market her shop there. Aunty Liza has commercialized her brand and each of her packaging is very simple and yet well-designed. She also takes orders through phone via calls but prefers to have customers walk-in and pick up their orders.
Her business has many loyal & regular customers, and these customers also bring along numerous new customers by word-of-mouth. Being in a niche market, she says that business is fairly stable & 'okay' back then up till now. She's even been able to expand & take up one extra shop-lot.
Overall she is very happy with the marketplace in general, but says that the maintenance team need to improve as facilities such as the service lift is always faulty. Other than that, she is very content with opening up shop here.

*Additional note: Her sambal belacan is very good & I would recommend you to try it out. I am definitely planning to go back to her shop and have a go at her other spices & seasoning! Aunty Liza is extremely nice & friendly so anyone that goes to the Pasar Besar TTDI please do stop by her shop and have a look at her products. Out of all the shop-owners I had a chat with, she was the most friendly & entertaining! I definitely had a blast chatting with her and getting to know her.

Shop TS-115

Business: Vegetables - Tomato, Lettuce, Brinjal, Cabbage and many other common veggies.
Has been operating for almost 35 years, since the Pasar Besar first opened. No other branch/shop. Moved from Central Market.
No online platform, only physical shop. Self-run business with help of a few staff.
Highly dependent on regular customers and does not supply to other businesses.
No suggestions on what to improve but hopes that the economy turns around for the better of the agricultural industry.

Uncle Yap & Wife's Fish

Business: Seafood - Fish, Prawn, Squid etc.
Also operating since the Pasar Besar opened, almost 35 years. Initially from Central Market & moved here. Only 1 branch.
Has a Facebook page to do marketing for the shop, also has help from other family members if customers request for home-delivery. They even accept payment by bank transfer! Family-run business; husband & wife run it together.
Also highly dependent on regular customers and does not supply to businesses. Cites the reason of very little foot-fall so there are barely any new customers to begin with.
Hopes to see better facilities at the market; better parking lots & cheaper rates to attract more customers.

Kedai Adik-Beradik

"Adik-Beradik" is a Malay word and it translates to siblings; and the business is literally run by siblings! The 3 of them to be exact. They carried on the business from their late father.
Deals with Livestock - Mainly Chicken & some Meat (lesser demand)
Operating for 20 years & has only 1 branch.
No online platform for sales or marketing but plans to venture into it to market their produce further. Family-run business; 3 siblings running the business together.
Says that the ratio of regular customers to new customers is about 70:30, still dependent on regular customer as main mode of income. Does supply to a few businesses, had to in order to tackle issue of their own business slowing down lately.
Also hopes for better & more facilities at the market - Service lift always seems to get spoiled, probably because everyone uses the same lifts to load & unload their goods. One other thing they hope to see change is that the general public will start to once again embrace the culture of cooking & eating at home, nowadays modern culture encourages people to only eat out & restaurants and shops do not bother to even collaborate with various suppliers but pick & choose only one and be done with it.

Azhar & Azmi Enterprise

Business: Livestock - Chicken & Meat.
Has been operating for 25 years & has no other branch.
No online platform, but takes orders through phone (calls/texts). Customers will either pick-up at shop or they will deliver. Also a family-run business; originally run by 2 brothers, but now only 1 of them continued the business with help from younger family members when available (nephews). The guy I interviewed was helping his uncle out on his sem-break and has been doing so for a few years now!
Almost 100% dependent on regular customers, but business is pretty stable back then and now. Does not need to supply to other businesses because stock always sells out to individual customers.
Hopes to see better facilities such as service lifts & better accessibility to the market (for example, more covered walkways).

Showanas Fruits Enterprise

Deals with Fruits - Orange, Apple, Banana, Persimmon, Watermelon, you name it & Showanas Fruits most probably has it!
Has been operating for about 35 years here & has another shop in Bangsar, which takes their supplies even from this branch.
No online page for sales; but they do take orders through phone via call/text and they will deliver if within their range of service. A family-run business, the business began from years back when the parents were handling it. Now, the children are the ones taking up the business to keep it going.
Showanas has many loyal customers but mentions that there are still quite a number of new customers walking-in every now & then. Although, business has been slower of late and they blame the bad economy & ever-reducing purchasing power of the general public.
Overall very happy with the marketplace in general but does suggest that the government come up with an initiative to encourage more people to come & shop at markets. One example given was that in Aussie, the people designate a day of the week (Thursday if I'm not mistaken) a work-free day for those working in corporate/offices. This in turn would encourage more of the general public to come to marketplaces or even just to run their own personal errands! Basically much like the 4-day work week that's been an issue of debate here in Malaysia lately. This seems like a good suggestion and hopefully the government would look into this.

Kedai Runcit Ghany

Deals in miscellaneous kitchen & household goods - Canned food, Sauces, Cooking Oil, Soaps, Shampoos and almost anything you can think of that's considered daily provisions. A convenience store but more authentic! & actually has a sense of locality to it.
Has been operating for 35 years, initially from Central Market before it was transformed into a cultural center. No other branches.
No online platform & only depends on walk-in customers. Considering to set up an online page to promote & market the shop more.
Mainly dependent on loyal customers but still has a fair share of new customers as well. It is a family-run business; a father & son combo. Father does the selling & talking to customers while the son handles the accounts & logistics of the business. Both super-friendly! They have to always give customers the best of service & products as they depend on news of their shop travelling by word-of-mouth.
Suggests that better & easier parking lots be provided for customers and also freeing up more space for the shops to go about their business. But, these factors are not nearly as critical as the threat posed by commercial convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, Family Mart and so on. Too many of these types of stores sprouting up and they will definitely run out of business, according to the father. They struggle to compete with such big corporations & names added with the sad fact of people being too lazy to explore and look at other options available.

Kedai Runcit Sugavaani

Another convenience store dealing with various household & kitchen items - Potatoes, Anchovies (recommended by owner because customers seem to like it; one of his better & special products), Cooking Oil, Sauces and many other items. Very much an authentic convenience store as well.
Also operating for about 35 years, and moved from Central Market. Only this 1 branch.
No online platform as business is pretty steady & enough to make a living.
Highly dependent on loyal customers who in turn do bring in new ones. Has to keep a good reputation, so customers will not be disappointed & stop from coming. It is a family business but he runs it by himself as his children are either studying/working elsewhere.
Suggests that the City Council (Majlis Bandaraya) rethink the distance allowed between this marketplace with other supermarkets such as the nearby Hero Market and many more. He expresses his disappointment that the supermarket was allowed to open within such a short distance.

Kedai Ubat Ee Zhuang

Business: Herbal & traditional medicine - Ginseng roots, Gingko leaves & many other Chinese traditional medication.
Has been operating at the market for about 30 years, initially from Central Market too. According to the shop-owner, all those that have come from Central Market are all friends & they know one another well!
No online page because there is little to no demand for online business. But they do have a few requests for home deliveries, from time to time.
Depend on a mixture of customers, both regular & new ones. Even receive quite a number of expats looking for traditional medicine. Being in a niche business, sales are pretty steady back then & now. Joked that for their sales to shoot up, majority of the public would have to be ill/sick! Which of course, is a fact they do not wish for.
Has the opinion that the marketplace is fine the way it is. Just that the culture of the younger, more modern generations completely do not bother about going to the market anymore or even take interest in goods such as traditional medicine.

Elshan Cas Sdn Bhd

Business: Florist - Flowers of all kinds, local & imported ones.
Shop has been operating here for 30 years, and the uncle, Hj. Mat Yasin bin Hj. Mat Som, pictured with me has been an employee there for about 20 years! He's been working there ever since he's retired & does so for some income to cover his living expenses. He enjoys meeting customers & doing sales for his friend that owns the florist.
No online page because there hasn't been a necessity for it so far. But their supplier does have delivery services, within the country as well as abroad.
Receive a mixture of regular & new customers. Sales are very good on festive seasons or if any businesses approach them for events etc. Shop-owner runs the back end of the business while getting help from a few of his employees.
Hopes that better facility maintenance is done for the marketplace, as other aspects of the market are enough as it is. Also hopes to see more of the younger generations take the effort to embrace the culture of going to & shopping for goods at marketplaces once again.

Sham Coconut Enterprise

Business: Rempah-rempah (Seasoning/Spices) - Santan (Coconut Milk), Cili Boh, Kelapa Parut (Grated Coconut) and other items.
Shop has been around for 20 - 25 years, but have been at Pasar Besar TTDI for around 13 years. Initially was doing business in the City Centre of KL but decided to move here in hope of better sales.
No online page for sales, but has help from customers to promote their shop online. Does supply to a few restaurants as they deal with a high-demand commodity (Santan & Cili Boh).
Nowadays can only depend on regular customers as business has been slowing down a lot of late. These loyal customers know that their product is of much better quality, those selling outside might be a bit cheaper but it is "cair" (diluted), while theirs is "pekat" (concentrated). A family business; run by a husband & wife, a rather young couple. Their products are home-made & freshly stored.
No strong suggestion on what to improve for the marketplace but hopes that government can carry out more initiatives to encourage more footfall to the market. Also mentioned that they only need general public to see the shops here, once they know of it customers will sure come as these are all goods required for daily living.

Kedai Murukku (official name still TBD)

Business: A variety of Keropok (Crackers) and Kacang (Nuts)
This quaint stall caught my attention because of the products on show, one of my favorite snacks - Murukku. Murukku is a flavorful, crunchy snack originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular in southern India, and Sri Lanka. It derives from the Tamil word for "twisted", in reference to its shape.
This stall started operations about 1 year back, since early 2018. The business was operated by a 19-year old! She was doing this as a part-time job while she's still studying. Her mother does all the packaging and outsourcing while she runs the stall. Her mother on the other hand, is working another part-time job. Hence why she has to assist with running the stall.
No online page as of yet but sales has been pretty good since opening the stall here. Many customers; regular & new make a quick pit-stop to buy their preferred snacks and go. Their mode of selling these snacks in easily-handled packets make it a lot easier for people to buy them as they can eat on-the-go.
Suggests that more events & activities be held at the market as an initiative to pull more customers.

and the last shop I interviewed on the day.. Note that I came across this gem of a shop completely by chance as I was casually strolling along the aisles of the first floor of the market, and how happy I was to have done so!

Sputnik Recordz

Business: Music Items - Vinyls, Tapes, CD's, Magazines
Entering this shop was like a throwback to an era much forgotten, with vinyl covers of artists of yesteryears hung up on the walls, vintage cassette & vinyl players on display & classical/oldies music resonating throughout the shop. The "old soul" in me jumped with joy.
Speaking to the employee, Hidayat, who was manning the shop at the time, informed me that the shop actually belongs to the vocalist, Naza, of The Times, an indie band from Malaysia. Click this link to listen to one of my favorite songs from said band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWNMpDpACBA ; a song titled "Telegram Buat Yoko".
This shop has been operating for 1 year at the market and is located on the first floor, right next to the market's management office. They deal with the buying, selling and trading of vinyls, cassettes & CD's.
They have a few online platforms and go by the username @sputnikrecordz on Instagram.
One suggestion made to improve footfall at the market is by having more events at the market. In fact, they recently co-held an event with another classical artist, Adnan Othman, early last month. It was in conjunction with the release & launching of his CD 'Bershukor'. If I do succeed in my request for my grandfather's vinyl player, then I'm definitely making this shop a staple in the near future *fingers crossed*.

From the questioning session and what I'd learned from the shop-owners, there are some conclusions that can be drawn regarding the characteristics & nature of the businesses

All of the businesses are family-owned businesses with the exception of the vinyl records store. All the businesses that deal with perishable goods are family-owned & family-run.
A large bulk of said businesses are heavily, if not fully dependent on regular & loyal customers. More people need to start paying attention to & support small, local businesses!
When venturing into the business of perishable goods, it is very difficult & costly to provide online services such as sales. Hence why most of them depend on regular walk-in customers. There are too many high-risk factors to take into account such as the logistics of things & any online expansion would take up a lot of capital to even begin. At the most, it is safer to do marketing online rather than the sales & delivery, unless the business/corporation is already big enough & have the necessary funds. Even then, it is highly inadvisable to do so with perishable goods, due to the supply chain of these things etc.
Most of the shop-owners here know one another very well, as how it is at other marketplaces I'm sure. The idea of having the community as a very tightly-knit one is a beautiful sight to behold. It is somewhat unavoidable anyhow, for an important practice in order to sustain their business is market sharing. Without this practice, the businesses would not be able to survive on their own.
Sales are only very good on the weekends, while on weekdays business is very, very slow. This is highly because of the fact that the majority of the general public are working in corporate on weekdays & thus greatly reducing the amount of footfall. Here is where the 4-day work week should come in very handy & be beneficial for all sides.

With that, I'd like to elaborate a little on why I have the slightest of interest in traditional marketplaces such as this and why I think it is very important to embrace this culture & way of life as we, mankind as a whole move forward towards modernization & modern-living. Copy this link into your search bar to direct yourself to a research paper done by some local university graduates on the significant benefits to the younger generations by going to wet markets: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815000440

So to me, firstly, this culture & lifestyle of buying goods at the market encourages people to cook, whether it is for your family at home or for the public at a restaurant. Cooking in itself, is a life skill, and one will not be at loss when up-skilling yourself. Besides that, there is so much to learn by going to markets starting from basic issues such as the types of goods available at your disposal, the standard market price of things, and basically just knowing the source of the food that you consume. You can also learn so much on the supply chain of these businesses, how they go about their daily operations, and many other business-related issues. Moreover, you have the choice to pick exactly the items you want - be it livestock, fish, fruits or vegetables. ESPECIALLY fruits & vegetables, for me. Nobody would want goods that are less fresh & of lower quality now do they? This idea of having the choice to pick your goods is very-much underrated by the majority of younger people nowadays, who would rather have goods & groceries hand-picked by strangers who would then deliver to their doorstep. But that's just my two-cents. Besides that, marketplaces such as this are very much community-oriented. It is a beautiful sight to see when people of different backgrounds come together as a community & live harmoniously with one another. Last but not least, what I like the most about traditional marketplaces such as this is the variety of small businesses that exist within it. These various small businesses to me, has a sense of originality, a sense of locality, and is refreshing to say the least. Offering a different option to businesses that have already established a name. More so the franchises that are already global. The world is deeply lacking in variety, in this context. These small businesses represent a blockade, a stoppage, to what is now a capitalist world run by a monopolistic economy. Any small honest business to me, somewhat represents a halt of sorts to this vicious cycle of "business" around the globe. This "global economy", posing threats much like the dangers of the spreading of the mono-culture. So, support your local, small businesses. Think of it this way, every cent given to support them helps a parent pay their child's tuition fees & helps put food on the table for them. It is a good, honest living. Enough with this thinking that we are too good to be supporting small, local retails/merchants & ALWAYS only wanting to buy from big, commercial corporations. The really rich & supposedly "elite", the "top 1%", do not actually give two hoots about you, so stop feeding into their game of manipulation & control. This happens all around the globe & before their claws get even more deep, deeper than they already are, CHANGE. It is high-time for us to liberate ourselves from this sort of mental slavery.

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