Teo looks after his fruit stall at the Central Market.
SIBU: Lower grade mandarin oranges, commonly known as lokam, seem to be in greater demand this Chinese New Year.
Central Market vendor Teo Swee Hong said this could be because lokam are less expensive as they are not as sweet as the higher grade mandarin oranges known as pokam.
“Mandarin oranges are well liked by other races, apart from the Chinese,” he said.
Chung Chin Yuan, 72, said the Chinese New Year celebration would not be complete without mandarin oranges.
Every year, he gets at least three to four boxes of the oranges.
“I get to have many visitors during my Chinese New Year open house. In fact, three to four crates of the mandarin oranges can only last for two days,” he said.