 |
| Photo courtesy of Yusuf Muhammad |
The demise of a social landmark
When I was growing up, the Sunday market
was located near the old State Mosque at Jalan Haji Taha – this is the
predecessor of the present day Satok Market; popular with locals seeking out
local produce and exotic fruits. This ‘tamu’ was dismantled and re-emerged in
its new form and location – filling in the gaps between shop houses at Jalan
Satok and there it stayed for many years.
This will soon end; as there are
plans to relocate the Market across the river.
The Satok Weekend Market grew - out of a
need for part-time traders to do business, and into the nooks and crannies of our
townscape, insinuating itself like a live organism with its own ebb and flow.
Its free spirit may be mistaken for untidiness, its grass-roots beginnings construed
as a lack of care or hygiene, the shoulder to shoulder traffic and the long
walk to find car parking is social pilgrimage for many locals (and even more
tourists)
Therein lies its downfall perhaps, as these are reasons cited for its
relocation.
There is nothing for fear and much to gain
from grass-roots occurrence like this one; many of us have travelled overseas
to visit similar venues. It has a symbiotic relationship with the adjacent shop
houses, perhaps its temporary nature makes the cohabitation easier to
accommodate. Its various sections; jungle produce, livestock, plants, clothing
and pets divide themselves into precincts accessed by streets that exist only
from Saturday noon to Sunday afternoon, after which it packs itself up and is
gone for another week.
It has become part of our urban and social landscape;
written into travel journals and our memories. As an architect and a local; I
do not favour the relocation. It should not have to conform into neat rows and
tidy habits; to do so would dilute its original character and cause it to forget
its mother tongue.
 |
| courtesy of Azie |
