Central Market or Pasar Seni is the place to go to hunt down some souvenirs for your holiday travel. Located in the heart of KL, easily accessible via the Pasar Seni LRT station, it is one of the favourite haunt for visitors looking for something special to bring home with them.
This used to be a wet market selling perishable household food stuff and smelly fish and all. Being located in the prime location of Kuala Lumpur it was also causing much congestion. So City Hall decided to relocate the wet market activities elsewhere and refurbish the place as a cultural art souvenir center. They didn't want to demolished it as it has a long historical significance so converting it as tourism attraction place was a good move.
So come on over here and see if you can find some interesting artifact as a souvenir for your vacation trip!
Central Market is still the place for souvenirs, artefacts and cultural activities
By Jayagandi Jayraj
Photos by Mohd Faihan
Monday June 18, 2012
THE Central Market in Kuala Lumpur has always been a treasure trove of all things Malaysians, although recently it has extended itself to feature some foreign items too.
Complex manager Cheong Wai Mun said Central Market was a place focused on local artefacts, but there were also a small range of offerings which were not Malaysian.
“Most tenants here sell Malaysian-made items but other things which are not local are sold to complement what we have and also to offer a variety for tourists and visitors.
“For example, on the upper floor, we have the batik emporium selling batik that is produced here. But along with it, there are also some varieties from the neighbouring countries,” said Cheong at an interview recently.
Upgraded: A view of the kiosks at Central Market.
The 124-year-old Central Market, whose long history is intricately connected to the old and new generations of Kuala Lumpur is a testament that old buildings could be preserved and transformed to make it relevant with present times.
Since the takeover by Kha Seng Group in 2004, the place has been given a facelift to promote its unique selling point as an outstanding centre for Malaysian art and handicraft.
A RM10mil investment meant many positive additions to the building including zoned shopping areas and upgraded kiosks and stalls, creating a net lettable area estimated at over 650sq m of retail space.
The zoned areas reflect the cultural diversity of Malaysia with streets like Lorong Melayu, Cina and India.
Lorong Kelapa is a lane that offers traditional Malay snacks while Malacca Jonker Street is a comprehensive shopping centre for Malaysian handicrafts art.
Some of the local shops include the Coconut Shop which offers various souvenirs and artworks made from coconut shells and the Asli Kraf centre offers a wide variety of locally-made woven goods from materials which are found in the local forests.
Almost lifelike: Abdul Hadi Ahmad,
whose shop is at the Annex is well known
for his portraits of politicians.
Its owner Pong Panjang said the handiworks were sourced from the various orang asli communities in Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor and Perak.
The materials used for the handiworks are from various plants such as mengkuang, bamboo, bemban, kerdut and ribu- ribu.
Pong said ribu-ribu, which was a type of fern usually found in Sabah, was rare and a certain dexterity and expertise was required when weaving it.
“Since it is quite difficult to handle ribu-ribu, some use rattan instead. Ribu-ribu goods are often more expensive compared to others,” explained Pong, who has been operating in Central Market since the 80s.
Like Pong, there are many long-time tenants who trade at the Central Market. They include Songket Sutera operator Badrul Muda and artist Abdul Hadi Ahmad, whose shops are at the Annex, behind the main building.
While the tenants are happy and sure that they would be allowed to run business there as long as they want to, their competitors are shopping complexes mushrooming everywhere.
Tasty treat: This putu bambu shop
is popular among the Central Market visitors.
“Those days, there were only a few places like the Pertama Complex and Central Market as shopping attractions for people, but nowadays visitors have more choices. We are not getting as many visitors as we used to,” said Badrul.
According to Cheong, they have been organising more events to highlight Central Market as a cultural hub. She said many cultural activities were carried out at the venue apart from observing the major celebrations. A big attraction is the Lantern Festival, where visitors are given lanterns before a procession.
“We also have cultural dances from Monday to Thursday, and something on every day. On Sundays, we have martial art performances, which is quite popular among visitors here,” she added.
For detail on activities at the Central Market, visit www.centralmarket.com.my -- StarMetro
The Jonker Street in Central Market
is modelled after the one in Melaka,
looked real authentic!
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