(From right) Syed Akbarali and Syed Ameerali at their stall in the Ramadan bazaar, at Miri Indoor Stadium.
STROLLING around the Ramadan bazaar at the carpark of Miri Indoor Stadium, I could not help but feel the excitement and enthusiasm from both the traders and the customers, still going strong after a few weeks into the fasting month.
My guess was that yearning for the bustling market atmosphere was finally fulfilled after two years of restrictive Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
“I believe we all miss this – the feel of a lively Ramadan bazaar, with the traders loudly beckoning customers to buy what they’re selling.
“It has been great so far. I’ve just done preparing this bulk order for a bank branch,” smiled Muhammad Asharafee Housni, a ‘Roti John’ (local omelette sandwich) seller at the bazaar.
It was not exactly a planned assignment as I was just stopping by to buy some food for ‘buka puasa’ (breaking fast), but having remembered that I wrote about the bazaar in the first week of Ramadan, I thought about a follow-up article.
Housing 158 stalls, the indoor stadium is among three Ramadan bazaar sites being managed by the Miri City Council (MCC) this year – the other two are at Medan Saberkas with 195 stalls, and New World Mart Lutong with 35 stalls.
‘Roti John duo’
Apart from offering a wide variety of food and drinks, another thing about the Ramadan bazaar is that there are traders who only operate during this particular time of the year – Asharafee and joint partner Hafizul Ismail being among them.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), we are able to run our business, ‘Street Food Roti Jonz’, in this blessed month.
“Both of us have permanent jobs, so we only sell during Ramadan and occasionally, during festivals,” said Hafizul, 35, an offshore manpower supply personnel.
Asharafee (left) watches Hafizul make some Roti John orders.
Asharafee, 46, said with the exception of 2020 and 2021, he had never missed selling Roti John every year during Ramadan since setting up Street Food Roti Jonz in 2011.
“And it’s always been the bazaar at this stadium, except last year when we operated at Miri Marina because the revised MCO was still in force,” he said, adding that Hafizul came on board in 2017.
Asked about the response so far, Asharafee said it had been very encouraging, especially during weekends.
“It seems we are recovering. Weekends are packed. I believe people miss that bustling bazaar’s feel, and I’m just thankful for that,” said the IT technician from Senadin.
He would never forget how difficult it was during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We were required to obtain a police permit to run food delivery. It was tough, having to go past every police roadblock, but we had no choice then.
“Fortunately, there’s social media. We did the promotion via Facebook Bazaar platform.
“Also, it was the time when we realised the importance of having regular customers, who have always been there to support us,” said Asharafee.
Seasoned bazaar trader
The Ramadan bazaar is also a platform used by many established food outlets to generate seasonal revenue streams outside of their usual operations.
One of them is Khan’s Taj Restaurant, a well-known establishment that boasts authentic North Indian and Pakistani cuisines.
Being a seasoned participant of Miri Indoor Stadium’s Ramadan bazaar, the restaurant is adding a new item to its stall menu this year – the chicken shawarma.
“It’s our first time selling shawarma at the Ramadan bazaar. This item is not even on our restaurant’s menu, so it’s sort of an experiment to gauge the customers’ reception.
“As this is our first time, we’re going all out by ‘importing’ a shawarma expert from Pakistan, just for our Ramadan stall. Judging by the response, the shawarma could soon be a new addition to our restaurant’s menu,” said Syed Akbarali Mizullah Khan, 24, whose father is the founder of the Khan’s family restaurant business in the city.
Wajid Mahmood, a shawarma maker specially ‘imported’ by Khan’s Taj Restaurant from Pakistan, takes a glance at the camera while preparing an order.
Currently, there are two branches – the Khan’s Islamic Restaurant in the city centre managed by Syed Akbarali, and Khan’s Taj in Lutong run by his brother Syed Ameerali, 31.
“I also handle the Ramadan stall. Ever since I was a schoolboy, we have never missed doing business at the Ramadan bazaar – well, except during the strict MCO period,” said Syed Akbarali.
Expressing the same enthusiasm as that of other traders at the bazaar, Syed Akbarali was happy to see many businesses picking up this year.
“Many of our items sell out every day. The just-introduced shawarma is among the best-sellers; the same goes for our chicken and beef ‘murtabak’, as well as our lamb shank biryani.”
Asked about his family business, Syed Akbarali said he was first brought in to work at the restaurant after completing Form 5 in SMK Lutong.
“It was a brief stint, as I later enrolled in the Diploma in Culinary Arts programme at the Academy of Pastry and Culinary Arts in Kuala Lumpur.
“After graduation, at age 22, I came back to Miri to help Dad run the family business.
“I feel blessed to have this opportunity, but I’m never complacent.
“I want to be a good manager; thus, I continue to study more about food-service operation, business documentation and paperwork, as well as human resources.
“I would want to expand the business. Insyaa Allah, I believe that things will recover,” said the young businessman.
Running family business
Mohd Ariffin Mustapha, 30, is another young Mirian who is running a family business.
He obtained the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) in Hospitality Technology (Food Preparation) when he was 23, and now, he operates the satay section at Taman Seroja food court.
“My parents inherited the satay business from my grandparents, and now, I run it.
“There were many challenges and struggles along the way, Covid-19 being among them, but we have remained steadfast.
“I am very grateful to my family for always supporting me.”
Moreover, Mohd Ariffin wanted to do more than just continuing the family business.
“As a long-term plan, I’m working my way towards setting up a factory where we would produce frozen satays. For this, I’m setting a 10-year deadline,” he said with a determined smile.
Mohd Ariffin works hard to ensure that his family’s satay business would continue to thrive.
For Muneerah Mail and her daughter Nurfaezah Abdullah, they are offering something different at the Ramadan bazaar – the ‘Cendol Santan Sawit’.
This refreshing dessert consists of green jelly strands made from glutinous rice flour, mixed and palm sugar syrup and ‘drowned’ in thick ‘santan’ (coconut milk).
Their version, however, is different in that it uses ‘palm milk’, which derives from ‘minyak sawit’ (palm oil).
“My daughter went to Peninsular Malaysia two months ago and found this unique drink using palm milk. Upon further research, I discovered that many beverage businesses had been using palm milk in their products.
“So we tried using it in our ‘cendol’. So far, the customers like it, and this is very encouraging,” said Muneerah, adding that her daughter had engaged a company in the peninsula to provide them with a direct supply of palm milk as the product had yet to be available in the local market.
On days other in the month of Ramadan, Muneerah’s daughter operates a beverage stall at Wireless Walk.
Muneerah (left) and Nurfaezah want to introduce palm milk to Mirians through their ‘Cendol Santan Sawit’.
Wide variety of offerings
I continued my stroll around the Ramadan bazaar, happy to see traders smiling even when they were busy preparing orders.
“I’m just thankful that this bazaar is open.
“Initially, I was a bit worried over the rising prices of raw materials but thankfully, business has been running smoothly.
“We have our regular customers, as well as those from Brunei who would throng the bazaar on the weekends,” said Mohd Fadzli Morshidi, who sells honey-glazed grilled chicken.
Mohd Fadzli tends to his honey-glazed chicken, being cooked over red-hot charcoal.
There were also non-typical food items available at the bazaar this year.
My eyes were drawn to a stall selling a wide range of Japanese sushi – 30 different types, to be exact.
“I used to work in a restaurant where my job was to make sushi,” said Norhayati Jeffrey, who operates a sushi stall at Coco Cabana in Miri Marina.
“Alhamdulillah, the response here at the Ramadan bazaar has been very good,” said the entrepreneur, who is also selling ‘bento’ (Japanese-style packed meal) sets at her stall.
Norhayati (right) and her assistant at their sushi stall.
Having completed my round at the food section, I turned to the stalls selling what every Ramadan bazaar must have – sweet delights and thirst-quenching drinks.
A stall operated by a former offshore catering crewman, Tony Rosli, was among those with long lines of customers.
“I choose to sell fruit cocktails because they’re easy to make.
“Still, the most important thing is that the fruits must be fresh,” said the home-based entrepreneur.
Tony offers a cup of refreshing fruit cocktail.
Tony, a father of one, operates his food business at his house in Tudan.
He had to leave his offshore job due to the strict MCO restrictions.
It is only during Ramadan that he sells fruit cocktails at the bazaar. On regular days, he makes Sarawak Laksa and ‘kuih muih’ (traditional cakes and sweet snacks) for orders received via Facebook.
Meanwhile, Noorlela Ali sells what is arguably the most sought-after of all drinks during Ramadan – the sugarcane juice.
“It is definitely a popular drink for breaking fast,” said the 47-year-old ‘char kuetiaw’ seller, who only sells drinks during the fasting month.
She admitted that the price of sugarcane per kilogramme had increased recently, from RM0.80 to RM1.
Noorlela (left) and her team at their ‘Warong Tebu’ stall.
“Still, I still maintain my price for sugarcane juice at RM7 per 1.5-litre bottle.
“I want my customers to continue enjoying this drink at a reasonable price,” said this mother of three, who has been operating her ‘char kuetiaw’ stall at Jalan Krokop Utama for almost 16 years.