Hamdan (right) and his father Shamsuddin at their watermelon stall at the Fama Market in Sipitang.
Hamdan helping to pack watermelon for his customer.
Customers selecting watermelons at Shamsuddin’s watermelon stall at the Fama Market in Sipitang.
SIPITANG: Forget fishing and getting lost at sea – Shamsuddin Palawai told BAT6. The bountiful catch in this coastal town is watermelon, which is plentiful and available all year long.
Helping to ground the 60-year-old father who is cashier at his stall is son Hamdan. Shamsuddin said he prefers to sell fruits like watermelon rather than risk going out to sea to catch fish because the watermelon farmers give him and his son a very good wholesale price.
BAT6, which was on the way to Kota Kinablau the state capital of Sabah yesterday, was first mesmerised by the huge pile of watermelons at the Fama market in the town.
Hamdan, 38, said the ‘like father, like son’ team has been raking it in at the Fama market for the last five years.
“Before this, we were at two other places in town until we moved here recently,” he said.
“Most of the buyers are locals and travellers who make a pit stop here on the way to Beaufort up to Kota Kinabalu,” he added.
Hamdan disclosed that they get their supply from Banting and Papar, where the fruits are thriving.
He sells two varieties of watermelon – red and yellow flesh – and other fruits like honey dew and pumpkins.
Apart from the locals and travellers, he said local eateries also buy melon from them, who cuts them into bite size for sale.
Of the two species of watermelon, he said the one with red flesh is more popular though the one with yellow flesh is sweeter.
“I think it is because the one with the red flesh is cheaper than the yellow one,” Hamdan explained.
He said prices vary according to size and quality of the fruit, some sold at between RM2 and RM10 per fruit and some at between RM1.20 and RM2.50 per kg.
“We also sell them at RM10 for three fruits to hasten our sale as watermelon is a perishable fruit,” he added.
“For quite a while, the farmers have not increased the price and that makes it easier for me and my son to keep a constant price,” Shamsuddin confided in BAT6.
He said Fama gives them leeway to lower their price if there is oversupply.
Though happy that Fama and the local council gave them a strategic place to trade in, his wish is for a permanent site to cast a bigger net for their melon business.