“Rental S$300 per day” — Netizen shares plight of hawkers at pasar malam

SINGAPORE: After an online user shared a post about the working conditions of uncles and aunties at a nearby pasar malam, many others took part in the conversation, forming quite a long thread of exchanges among Singaporeans.

In Indonesian and Malaysia, pasar malam means “night market.” An online user took to Reddit on Friday (July 7) to share insights gained after a visit to a nearby one.

“I stay at a pretty obscure HDB neighbourhood in the west and there is (a) pasar malam that just opened a couple of days ago,” the netizen said. “It’s the first one in a very long time. Gone were the days of bustling crowds, stores filled with pirated games and DVDs. The stretch of stores was confined to a small street, and the vendors were waiting for customers most of the time.”

The online user also shared insights from a conversation with one of the store owners. “I chatted up one of the store owners,” the post read. “His store sells kebabs, and he claims that the rental is 300SGD per day, that’s pretty crazy. I wonder if most of them are able to even cover their rental, let alone make a profit.”

According to the user, this conversation raised two questions: “How do FnB owners even make a profit in this climate of high rental?” and “Why do so many people still jump headfirst into such business?”

Many others responded to the post, joining in on the conversation.

They shared their experiences and insights on the night markets, while others empathised with what store owners have to deal with. Some even compared the markets’ state to how they were years ago.

“I remember like 10 years ago, a conversation between my mum and one of the vendors (about) where and when they decide to set up stalls (because sometimes it would be twice (that) there (would) be pasar malam in the same month and location then nothing for 3-4 months, while some are like 1 week long or even 1 month long!)” one netizen shared.

“They told us, it’s always out of their hands. More like a circus troupe ala town to town, the same group of stalls in that troupe following the schedule. These days there are more and more empty tents and not much variety from one troupe to the last. Well, the special ones are the flowers and plants or the claw crane arcade.”

“I love pasar malams and I’m so sad to see them declining,” wrote another. “The next generation won’t be able to enjoy them the way we did. I wish the government would do something to protect them as part of our intangible cultural heritage. But if they do that, I get the feeling that we’ll only see very manicured and atas versions at NDP or something. We lose the authentic bustling chaos that makes a pasar malam fun.”

Another singled out the rent, saying, “It’s always the rent. Don’t we remember the story of the man who sold traditional movie snacks, who was looking at thousands in rent just to place his cart somewhere?” The netizen went on to add, “Pasar malam can never beat stuff’d etc in economics of scale, and money is tight on us normal folk. Without intervention they will probably die out.”

Another did the math, saying, “300SGD per day? That’s (an) insane amount. A kebab costs like S$4 for the chicken one I believe? And about S$5 for the beef. How many do they need to sell per day to even recoup that amount?”

Feel sorry for uncles/aunties at the pasar malam near my house
by u/brandonbass in singapore