Exploring the Traditional Night Market or Pasar Malam of Malaysia

By: Kazi Musa, SAVED News International Correspondent, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Night market or Pasar Malam is one of the traditional fairs of Malaysia. It’s a temporary market, usually in an open place or on the street in every area once a week. Numerous native products, foods, fruits, dresses, gadgets and many types of groceries are been sold at a cheap price.

I was planning to enjoy the essence of the night market for a long time but couldn’t manage enough time to go. Finally, last week I went to a night market held beside my university at Shah Alam nearby Kuala Lumpur.

It was quite an exciting time. Because I never experienced such crowed in Malaysia since I’ve been here. There are more than a thousand-night market held all over Malaysia. I went to a medium-size night market. But big markets are more exciting and have plenty of choice of foods and other kinds of stuff. Generally, people love to gather here in the night and buy food items and their daily necessities.

Attractions:

Main attractions of Pasar Malam are food items. More than a hundred types of Malaysia, Indonesian and Thai foods are been sold. This market usually starts from 5 pm in local time and stay open until the late night. However, kids enjoy it a lot here. They love to buy toys, drinks, and foods.

Products & Foods Variety:

Many people visit the night market to purchase their daily necessary groceries from here. Some popular grocery items are fish, different kinds of seafood, many types of vegetables, dry fish, chicken, beef, mutton and so on. Additionally, other cooking ingredients like herbs, pulses, onions, and chilies are also available in this market.

Some shops sell native dresses, toys, gadgets, jersey bags, and cosmetics at a low price. But almost seventy percent of shops are selling food items. Processed foods and raw foods. Plenty of cakes I found over there like durian fruit cake, chocolate cake, cupcake, spicy chicken cake and some other native cakes made with rice, coconuts, and sugar.

The shops in the market are mostly run by women. They bring their selling items in their vans. Interestingly, I found every woman also bring their kids with them and when kids are feeling sleepy, they go to sleep in the car or a little tent.

Many expats also gather here, especially in the night time. They enjoy Malaysian the crowd as well as culture and foods. However, I bought some fresh rambutan and milo eyes drinks. Drinks are also a great attraction at this market. Many types of drinks are sold like milo eyes, lemonade, green coconut juice, mango juice and so on. All those drinks are made with fresh fruits and other fresh materials.

The local government provides necessary support and security to the market. As the place become very clean, safe and ecstatic in every week. Sellers are very cordial and always gives a gentle smile to the customers.

Specialty:

I found two important points in that market. First, some woman (60 plus) who are selling their products very naturally and earning handsome money. Which I liked much. Second, being a modern country, Malaysian people regularly are using green leaves instead of polyethylene bags to carry some food product. I found some foods are covered with green leaves in the Pasar Malam as well as in regular restaurants which is a very good sign. If someone visits Malaysia, my recommendation is don’t miss to visit this temporary night market or Pasar Malar.