TODAY Online : 'For market forces to decide'

'For market forces to decide'

05:55 AM Mar 01, 2010

by S Ramesh rameshs@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE - The wet markets here may not be optimising space in land-scarce Singapore, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, but some Singaporeans prefer them to supermarkets as a matter of tradition.

And while there was a need in the future to look into the amount of space that wet markets occupy, there was no denying their popularity.

"All of us are traditionalists - we're brought up to go to wet markets. We're able to poke at the fish, touch the fruits before you buy them and chat with the stall holders," said Mr Goh. "You go to the supermarket, you're unable to chat and bargain."

Mr Goh was speaking at the official opening of the new $18.2-million Geylang Serai market, which has an increased seating capacity with 365 wider stalls.

The original market opened in 1964 and was known as the Malay Emporium of Singapore. But it was gutted by a fire in 1999 and moved to a temporary location in Sims Avenue.

While he favours "the ability of the market to retain this character" of selling mostly or even all halal food, Mr Goh said with several new blocks coming up in the area, there would be more Chinese and Indian families staying there. So, it was important for the stalls to cater to the need of all races, he said.

Although the Malay community likes the Geylang Serai market because all the products and foodstuff are halal, "that doesn't mean that the market can be designated as a halal market" because the market is not a private market but "a common space for all Singaporeans".

Mr Goh added that if a stall becomes available in the Geylang Serai market, some stall holders may want to cater to the non-Muslims in the area.

Despite this, the makeup of stalls there should be determined by market forces, he said.

"If you want to open a non-halal stall over here, the demand for your item may not be there. Why not consider elsewhere? But it's for (hawkers) to decide, not for the Government to designate. Any tender must be open to everybody," said Mr Goh.

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