Most ‘Pasar Malam’ Traders Won’t Reopen as SOPs Are Too Strict

By Karissa Lund  •  17 Jun 2020 in News

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‘Pasar malam’ is back! Okay – not really.

According to TRP, around 500 hawkers and traders of the Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman (TAR) night market have opted to postpone their business under the RMCO as the set of SOPs are too restrictive.

Lorong TAR Hawkers and Traders Association chairman Azkhalim Suradi said although traders have been given the green light to resume operations, they felt that the SOPs should be reviewed as it was deemed unreasonable to be applied in a ‘pasar malam’.

In a report by Bernama, Azkhalim said that the SOPs include social distancing of 1.5 meters between each eight-square-meter stalls, the barring of children aged below 13 as well as those aged 60 and above.

“In addition, most night markets are not suitable to be cordoned due to limited space. Practising social distancing (for the stalls) will cause most hawkers and traders to be left out due to the limited number of booths allowed”, he continued.

He also stated that hawkers and night market traders would have to bear losses since the number of visitors allowed at one time is limited. Although the association knows that they are losing their source of income due to the pandemic, they would rather wait out the RMCO than resume business.

As for now, the association is currently going over and reviewing the new SOPs with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) before it will be tabled to the National Security Council.

“As long as the SOPs are not agreed by every night market associations and organisers, we won’t be able to resume our operation,” he urged.

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