RATHER QUIET: A view of the Sibu Night Market at Butterfly Garden.
A MONTH after traders moved into the new site for the award-winning Sibu Night Market at Butterfly Garden, teething problems are continuing to make headlines.
Traders at the Night Market, sandwiched between Market Street and High Street, have all along been reluctant to relocate, citing various inconveniences, difficulties and other logistical problems.
They considered the move too drastic but despite their pleas for a change of plan, the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) went ahead anyway, insisting the traders must move to the new site at the Butterfly Garden by early August.
The relocation is said to be drawing more visitors to the night market, especially from the Chinese community. Though most are reportedly window-shopping, their presence is a clear indication that they want to know more about what the new place has to offer.
To satisfy my own curiosity, I decided to pay the night market a visit to find out why it is continuing to draw public criticisms.
Surprisingly quiet
It was a typical Monday evening. From about 50 metres, I could see that the night market was brightly lit with spotlights at all corners of the Butterfly Garden. It was certainly much brighter than the previous locality.
Approaching the Butterfly Garden, I had expected to see a huge mingling and jostling crowd amidst a hive of business activities, perhaps like what I had experienced when walking down Petaling Street, commonly known as Chinatown among tourists in Kuala Lumpur.
Surprisingly though, the Butterfly Garden was rather quiet with few visitors walking around – a first disappointment for me.
There were visitors but not to the extent of pushing and shoving as I had anticipated.
JUST LOOKING: Customers browsing at one of the stalls.
Council urged to look into traders’ plight
Stepping into the Butterfly Garden, I noticed it was squeaky clean with all the stalls put up in an orderly manner.
In terms of cleanliness, it’s all there –– but where space is concerned, the 4X8 area allocated to the traders could be considered “just big enough” to display their goods.
I also noticed cables and wires strewn all over the floor while some were dangling about six feet from the ground – just high enough for a tall person to walk underneath them.
Obviously, visitors did not hold with the overhead cables – one mis–step and they could be hit by overhanging wires.
All the food–and–drink stalls were grouped at one corner –– to me, a nice setup.
As I was taking pictures, one trader approached and immediately expressed his dissatisfaction over the “poor” arrangement.
“Help us to write and publish our grouses. None of us is happy with the arrangement but we don’t have any choice,” said the trader who did not want to be named.
The trader then brought me to see the Night Market Traders Association chairman Sia Puong Siing who shared with me all the problems encountered by the traders.
As I was brought around the Night Market, trader after trader approached to express their grouses.
They highlighted problems such as the uneven surface of the ground which they claimed affected their mobility while unloading their goods; potholes; cables wantonly strewn around; inadequate parking and many others.
I was still listening to their grouses when another trader stepped forward to complain that the arrangement of the stalls lacked proper planning and coordination.
Compared to the previous night market whose arrangement was more straightforward, the trader reckoned the present one looked like a merry–go–round.
“It’s difficult for customers to look for a particular stall. They have to go round and round to find it. This wastes a lot of time and causes a lot of inconvenience.”
Yet another trader approached, saying it was difficult unloading from vehicles parked at a distance –– and they had to push the carts to the trading area.
“The uneven ground surface is also impeding the movement of the carts. What if it rains?” he asked.
UNHEALTHY: A proper dumping site should be provided for garbage.
Unsightly dumping site
Sia then brought me to see the dumping site just opposite the food stalls. Needless to say, the council should seriously consider relocating this unsightly and unhygenic area.
As we were talking, we could see columns of smoke coming from the direction of the food stalls.
“What’s worse is that smoke from the stalls selling barbecued food will creep into the clothing and textile stalls, giving the items on display a bad smell,” Sia noted.
According to him, this sort of complaints was unheard of at the previous night market.
“Now, almost nightly, we keep hearing the same complaints. We are getting fed up and calling on the council to do something.”
Sia also showed me the uneven surface of the ground, especially the part at one end of it that could pose a hazard to unsuspecting visitors.
“This can be a trap –– we have actually come across people unwittingly kicking the protruding surface and falling down injuried.”
He pointed out that the uneven surface should be repaired to prevent untoward incidents.
“What if someone got seriously hurt,” he asked, pointing to a hole big enough for a young boy or girl to put his or her leg in.
“The councillors need to come to the Night Market and assess the situation and rectify the flaws. We want them to walk the talk instead of just sitting in the office,” he said.
BRIGHTER NOTE: The Night Market offers a wide variety of items for customers.
From my observation, the complaints seem quite reasonable and clearly, the council ought to carry out the improvements required.
The month–long trial run for the traders has expired and it’s time the council looks seriously into their needs in order to build trust and rapport.
All the parties concerned must work towards a win–win situation.
Sia added: “We are aware the council is working to strengthen the workflow and hopefully, it will also expedite the job of resolving the inconveniences encountered since we moved in.
“We are not looking for any standoff –– we are only hoping the council will look into our plight and take care of our livelihood.”