Bustling S'pore bazaar provides last hurrah for Ramadhan shoppers
Bustling S'pore bazaar provides last hurrah for Ramadhan shoppers
When the sun has set and the breaking of the fast has been observed, the only destination worth visiting in Singapore during Ramadhan -- if you wish to spend an entire evening indulging in shopping while basking under bright street lights -- is none other than the legendary bazaar at Geylang Serai.
Welcome to the eastern part of Singapore, inhabited predominantly by the country's Malay community, where the festive atmosphere and activities during the holy month will make tourists and visitors from neighboring Islam-majority countries feel at home.
The bazaar stretches from the Tanjong Katong Complex to the end of Joo Chiat Road, and strings of lights and rows of big tents are ready to serve shoppers for exactly one month. The bazaar comes to life at th beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan and is abuzz until the early morning of Idul Fitri, which is locally known as Hari Raya Puasa.
For people who find conversing in the Malay language or Bahasa Indonesia much more comfortable than speaking English, the bazaar is indeed a haven for getting a good bargain -- instead of taking the trouble to carry a calculator around, merely to show a negotiating price.
Even if bargaining over traditional clothing like sarongs, songkok or handmade handbags is not one's cup of tea, it is hard not to stroll along the big tents of Geylang Serai without being tempted to savor a variety of Malay delicacies.
From light snacks, like a packet containing 5 sticks of keropok lekor (fish crackers) that goes for S$1, to the ever popular Burger Ramly -- a Malaysian brand -- with fish or beef burgers for under $3, the list goes on endlessly until we find ourselves walking unknowingly along the pathway toward the Paya Lebar MRT station -- the nearest MRT station to the bazaar.
Most locals and frequent visitors to Singapore will control their shopping urges until the very last day of the bazaar, right up to the wee hours of the morning of Hari Raya. By around 3 a.m. on the celebrated day, the prices of most goods will be slashed by as much as 70 percent from their starting prices at the beginning of the fasting month.
Some families even prefer to set aside decorating their homes until Hari Raya, since the price of a bouquet of flowers will fall from $15 per basket to merely $5, even $3. And with $50, a happy shopper will carry home not only one, but two sets of baju kurung (Malay traditional clothes) with additional accessories to boot.
Obviously, not every item on sale will suffer such a generous cut, and most of those items that are not considered part of the Hari Raya shopping list will keep their fixed prices.
After all, one might always be able to buy a video CD (VCD) of Indonesian and Malaysian films for $10 at any time, and a hookah pipe for shisha (Middle-Eastern smoking) will still be available everywhere for more or less the same price.
Sadly, however, the Ramadhan shopping celebration this year will be the last to be held in the Geylang Serai area, as it is about to be torn down to make way for renovations. It is hardly any wonder, then, that the lighting decoration is much more dazzling -- as some local residents say -- the last flowering before its fall.
And Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs George Yeo himself actually officiated a street procession at the beginning of the bazaar this year, something that had never been done in previous years.
The quest of finding an amazing and complete shopping experience with touches of Muslim-Malay tradition will surely begin following Hari Ray -- at least until the next Ramadhan comes to pass. -- Nauval Yazid