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Sungei Road market vendors make appeal for relocation to other sites

SINGAPORE — With less than three weeks to go before the closure of the Thieves’ Market, the president of the Sungei Road market association has appealed to the authorities to find an alternative site for the vendors.

Sungei Road Flea Market. TODAY file photo

Sungei Road Flea Market. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — With less than three weeks to go before the closure of the Thieves’ Market, the president of the Sungei Road market association has appealed to the authorities to find an alternative site for the vendors.

Separately, some individuals have written to the National Environment Agency (NEA) and several Members of Parliament, proposing four possible sites for the outdoor flea market.

In a letter to TODAY, Mr Koh Eng Koon, president of the Association for the Recycling of Second Hand Goods, wrote that despite rebates offered by the Government for the vendors to move to stalls at hawker centres, the take-up rate has been low.

“We are not regular entrepreneurs. Many of us turned to trade in the Sungei Road market when we lost our jobs to retrenchment, old age and illnesses. We have few resources to take the risk of applying for a hawker stall — an option NEA has been urging us to take up. To do so will put us into debt,” Mr Koh said. He added that even with the 50-per-cent rental rebate, they still have to fork out S$1,000 to S$2,000 or more to set up a stall.

For decades, hawkers at the flea market near Sungei Road have been trading rent-free, peddling a range of second-hand goods and antiques in a 1m-by-1m space which they are each allotted. Set up since the 1930s, it was nicknamed Thieves’ Market because, in the past, it was where stolen, smuggled and illegal wares were peddled. On July 11, it will be closed for good, and the site will be redeveloped for future residential projects.

In his last-ditch appeal, Mr Koh urged the Government to give the relocation proposals offered by various community groups “serious consideration”. He said: “Less than one month to the scheduled closure date, we have no real alternative to turn to. We face real financial destitution.”

Citizen group Save Sungei Road Market, which comprises individuals aged 20 to 40, have proposed four possible sites, including the three open fields behind Sim Lim Tower, behind Masjid Malabar, along Rochor Canal, as well as the open space along the canal.

Group leader Faiz Zohri, 32, a landscape architect, said that these sites were picked because they are in the vicinity of the market — located between Jalan Besar and Rochor Canal Road — and also listed under the Singapore Land Authority’s adopt-a-field programme.

The group’s proposal, titled Robinson Petang 2.0 — paying tribute to “Robinsons in the afternoon”, another of the market’s nickname — also seeks to rejuvenate the market with better amenities such as portable toilets, larger trash bins and storage spaces.

The team plans to put together a committee comprising vendors and volunteers to manage hygiene and cleanliness at the space, since the lack of upkeep has been bothering residents in the area.

Other ideas in the proposal include setting up a “young entrepreneurs’ zone” to allow students and young adults to test their products and business ideas in a risk-free environment, so that they can focus on developing skills in negotiation and marketing.

Robinson Petang 2.0 seeks to “open a dialogue with the Government to discuss a future for the market”, Mr Faiz said. “We hope the Government recognises that young people see value in the market. Every major city in the world has a used goods market. The Sungei Road market has a long-standing reputation as a unique marketplace offering an incredible range of goods. There is a place for (this market) in Singapore.”

The death knell for the market sounded in July 2011, when it was reduced to half its size to facilitate the construction of the upcoming Jalan Besar MRT Station.

Since then, the association headed by Mr Koh had presented several appeals to the relevant authorities, but there was “no interest to acknowledge and accept the proposals”, Mr Faiz said.

“We hope Robinson Petang 2.0 can back the vendors up with more concrete research and surveys,” he said.

The group, which also polled vendors on their future plans, also found that six in 10 of them have “no concrete plan”. Apart from the high financial risk, vendors are reluctant to rent lock-up stalls because they are “less than optimistic” about the demand for used goods at hawker centres.

In response to Mr Faiz’s group, the NEA reiterated that various forms of assistance have been put in place to help vendors continue their second-hand trade when the market closes.

“A sizeable number of (vendors) have taken up stalls at hawker centres, where there are better facilities provided for users, as well as temporary flea markets, including those located in close proximity to their homes. Our officers will continue to keep in touch with the users to see how we can continue to support them during the transition when (the market) closes,” it said in an email reply.

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