We would sometimes go there after morning mass on Sundays. As kids, we never liked it, as it was all wet and icky! We called it the "smelly market"! However, I loved the part where mum and dad would get us helium balloons from the ah pek across the road afterwards! :)
Well, nowadays people prefer to frequent the supermarket, where there is air-conditioning, refrigeration, dry floors and a generally cleaner environment.
I still go to the wet market (now in Stutong) most mornings though, because I find that supermarkets open too late. I like to get my marketing done early so I can attend to other things. There are also plenty of interesting things to be found at the market. It is however more work, as the market is bigger and so shopping there involves more walking and hauling.
The one thing I love most about the wet market though, is the sense of community which can be observed daily. The vendors there range from all ages to all races. Young, old, Chinese, Malay, Dayak and Indian all go about their daily business under one roof.
It doesn't matter if a Chinese aunty is selling her goods next to a Malay uncle; they help watch each other's stall when the other is away on a toilet break. They will attend to their neighbour's customer for them.
Sometimes when one doesn't have a weighing scale, the neighbour kindly shares his.
So the other day, I had a huge bag of plastic bags, collected over weeks. Since I use those large black bags for rubbish, I have a lot of small plastic bags which I do not use. So I bring them to the market for vendors to re-use.
This time, I passed them to an Aunty who ran a small sundry shop. She was very happy and asked me what I wanted to eat! I told her it was okay, as I had no use for those bags anyway, then I went about my marketing.
After a while, she hunted me down and pressed into my hand a small black bag. She told me it was just a little something for me; and I saw it was sweet potatoes and some salted vegetables. I told her it was unnecessary, but she insisted, so I thanked her for her kind gesture.
I know these are simple people, far from wealthy. So her gift really touched me. It may not be much material-wise, but as they say, it's the thought that counts.
It feels good to have this sense of community with complete strangers! It's amazing how a humble bag of used plastic bags resulted in the return of a healthy dose of good will to brighten my day! This is something you definitely can't find in the modern, automated, sterile world of hypermarkets.
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