WHY make a beeline for a farmers’ market with their nose-wrinkling odours, humid conditions and noisy surroundings when you can shop in the air-conditioned comfort of a supermarket?
The answer, my friend, definitely blows in the wind. Unlike the sterile atmosphere of a hypermarket, the pasar tani gives one a sense of freedom with its open-air concept. Another magnetic attraction is that it throbs with life, thanks to the colourful personalities of the vendors and their wide choice of fresh produce, including petai just plucked from the tree and exotic jungle vegetables.
Going bananas: Bananas in the hundreds of bunches are found in abundance at Selayang. Shopping aside, this is where you’d find hefty fishmongers and Wellington-booted greengrocers with superstar smiles – the types who will not hesitate to claim every passer-by, old or young, to be their “sweetheart” or “darling”.
It is very hard not to fall in love with this noisy, gregarious lot! You know, those easy-going types who will not think twice about hollering to another trader who is six stalls away if he’s got any lemongrass to spare for a “pretty auntie” who just must have some for her nasi ulam?
Not one to practise favouritism, everyone is either a liang lui or a leng chai. The surroundings may not be posh but it is easy to see why the pasar tani has become so popular in our culture.
Engaging smile: Jamaludin Ismail started selling keropok lekor under a tree. Today, he has two shops in the Selayang wholesale farmers’ market The Malaysian pasar tani probably made its way into the local scene sometime in the early 70s. The whole idea of creating a temporary spot for the farmer to trade was to address the issue of the middleman. Back then, it was not uncommon to hear stories of some unscrupulous middlemen who would pay the poor village farmer a mere RM10 for a basket of durians, which were later sold in the city for RM10 per kg.
This effort to bring the farmers in direct contact with the consumer was initiated by Fama (Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority) which was formed in 1965. The main objective was to help the farmers, fishermen and livestock breeders eliminate the problem of the middleman.
Locations were selected based on market research carried out by Fama and consumer traffic; and the willingness of the district authorities to cooperate and the number of entrepreneurs who would find the area viable for trade were some of the prerequisites taken into consideration.
Training ground: The best salesmen can be found in a pasar tani, says Azizi, who is roasting chestnuts with his boss, Rezuan Baba. In terms of commerce, the pasar tani would be a separate market from the wet, morning and night markets and were under the jurisdiction of Fama who would arrange for the basic facilities such as umbrellas and stall space for rent in each of these designated areas. Close to half a decade later, the humble pasar tani took off, and the wholesale farmers’ market in Selayang was one of the first to start.
Located by the side of the old wing of the Selayang wholesale market, with its existence traced back to 1987, it is perhaps the oldest pasar tani in Selangor, according to Kamar Kilau, 60, who is a regular shopper here.
“In those days there were only 34 lots and rent was only RM13 per lot,” reveals Kamar.
Fama support: Razlan Ismail, a keropok lekor vendor, standing in front of his colourful lorry. Painting of the vehicle was sponsored by Fama. Today, the number of lots has doubled and, according to Shamsuddin Zainal, 30, who helps run the Fama produce stall here, rental rates have gone up to RM500 per unit.
While the business hours of the pasar tani were originally confined to the morning, the one in Selayang has extended operation hours to seven days from 7am to 6pm. Some stalls like Jamilah Hashim’s coconut stall, which sells fresh santan and kerisek, runs on a 24-hour basis.
Jamilah, 31, a mother of four, reveals that she had started in Selayang with a small stall under a tree selling cakes, crackers, pickles and steamed peanuts in 1999. She changed to selling coconut milk in 2000 when Fama offered her a stall after a former tenant lapsed in rental payments.
Enterprising: Jamilah with her sisters, Rahimah (in red) and Rohizan (in black), who are showing off the cendol and bakso noodles that are a hit with Selayang folk. On estimate, no less than 1,000 coconuts go under the grating machine at Jamilah’s santan shop in one day.
In Jamilah’s case, the spirit of entrepreneurship runs in the family as her husband, Saiful Azam, 37, also has a poultry stall in the area.
Her elder sisters, Rahimah, who runs a nasi campur and roti canai concern, and Rohizan, who, in addition to a watermelon stall, also sells bakso and lontong, also have shops in the Selayang wholesale farmers’ market area.
Bite me: Sup gearbox, one of the many hundred types of food available at the Shah Alam Pasar Tani. It is not unusual to find one boss managing a few stalls and keropok seller, Jamaludin Ismail, 48, is one of them. A keen biker who also has a health spa in Rawang, Jamaludin now has two shops to distribute his keropok lekor which comes from a factory in Rusila, Terengganu. Jamaludin, who started selling his keropok lekor from under a tree in 1996, says that he sells between 20 and 30 big bags a day.
The most popular pasar tani is none other than the one at the Shah Alam Stadium on Sundays from 7am to noon. What makes this market such a draw is that it is just next to the Bazaar Arena which operates in conjunction with the farmers’ market.
Catergorised as a pasar tani mega (mega farmers’ market) by Fama, this is a shopper’s heaven with over 800 stalls selling everything from fresh produce, meat and fish to bundle clothing, facial products and handicraft.
Showtime: Razali Jaafar got his 15 minutes of fame when he was featured in TV shows like Jalan Jalan Cari Makan. One bargain hunter, Norashikin Sidek, 37, who is a regular, says that one of her favourite draws is the beef bone soup (sup gearbox) from Wak Jas and the array of fashion clothing from the bundle stalls. Where prices are concerned, hypermarkets can be cheaper, she admits, but the advantage of being able to bargain here is an added plus.
Competition is certainly keen and Azizi Alif Khalid, 26, a business management diploma student from UiTM who sells roasted chestnuts, says that working in a pasar tani is a test in PR, work discipline and marketing skills.
“The best salesmen are found in a pasar tani. You learn very quickly that charm and the ability to say the right things will win you customers,” say Azizi, who sells about 80kg of chestnuts every Sunday in Shah Alam.
Without the advantage of window dressing, one also learns to rely on creativity, and for salon owner Norhasni Muhammad, 42, that involves providing on-the-spot facials at her stall where she sells her beauty soap bars.
This is not to mean that Fama has taken a back seat with the promotional efforts. The agency will sponsor the painting of a vendor’s lorry, as in the case of Razlan Ismail, who had his done recently.
The 25-year-old keropok lekor seller who hails from Klang, Selangor, has been in the pasar tani circuit for 10 years.
Facial on the go: A marketing tactic used by Nor Hasni to promote her beauty soap bars Ingenuity also helps to sell a product, as Jeffri Mohd, 26, found out when he changed the original cylindrical shape of the ice cream potong he sells to square shapes. This Kelantanese who has only been in the pasar tani circuit for a year is under the employ of Zaman Ice Cream which has two sales outlets at the Shah Alam market.
Incidentally, the pasar tani has also turned out to be a place where one can find fame. Razali Jaafar, 39, a former broadcasting man who gave up his job to open up his own enterprise called Uncle Jilli’s Jacket Potatoes two years ago, has attracted media interest. So far, he has appeared in Jalan Jalan Cari Makan, in a slot hosted by Maria Tunku Sabri, and in Sheila Rusly’s Ketuk Ketuk Ramadan, which were both aired over TV3.
Laden with petai and other jungle vegetables, Abdul Rahim Muhammad’s stall in Shah Alam is what the pasar tani business is all about – selling the freshest produce, whether they are harvested straight from nature or from the farmers’ plot, directly to the customer.
Rahim, who has been in the pasar tani trade for the past 25 years, says he is chairman-cum-treasurer of the Persatuan Peniaga Penjaja Negeri Selangor (Selangor Petty Traders Association), which aims to help the small entrepreneur. The motto of the PPNS is “Dari Gerai Ke Global (from stall to the world)”, he says. But it looks like their fight is still on the local ground for now.
One of the things that PPNS continuously strives for is the protection of the pasar tani traders from unscrupulous individuals who, after obtaining licences from the council, will try to sell the lots at a high price to newcomers, Rahim says, adding that at one point, PPNS even went as far as reporting the culprits to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Thanks to their efforts, such incidents are becoming rarer but the underhanded practices still exist, he says.
> For more information on a pasar tani nearest to you, log on to www.famaxchange.org
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