Trendy and creative stalls wooing folk at night markets
Syed Ghazafi: More than 50% of Persatuan Revolusi Niaga Johor Baru’s members are youths.

THERE is a rising trend of youths opting to trade at night markets, say pasar malam organisers.

Persatuan Revolusi Niaga Johor Baru secretary Syed Ghazafi Abu Bakar said more than 50% of the stalls it managed were operated by young people.

“These youths include those who took over their family business as well as those with a smaller capital who were keen to start their own business.

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“We organise night markets in three locations namely Taman Dahlia, Taman Sri Bahagia and Setia Tropika, which has the most number of young traders,” he told StarMetro.

He said the association also emphasised and encouraged youths to venture into business.

Compared to the older traders, Syed Ghazafi said young traders were more in tune with current trends and would gravitate towards food and beverage that gained social media traction.

“They also put more effort into presentation and the styling of their stalls by putting up attractive banners and displays,” he said.

He advised those interested to start a pasar malam business to obtain a valid business licence from the local council to avoid violating the law.

Syed Ghazafi said the association was in the midst of looking for a new pasar malam site to present others an opportunity to carry out business.

“Whenever we open up a new pasar malam location, a certain number of lots is set aside for newcomers while the rest are offered to our existing members because we need to have a mix of old and new traders,” he said.

“There were many instances where newcomers struggled and ran off after two months of operations.

“Having experienced traders around is useful as they can guide and inspire the younger ones to persevere and get over the hurdles.

Yow: The trend of youths joining pasar malam to trade started picking up three to four years ago.

“I tell new traders that they need to slog it out for about three to four months.

“Once they gain momentum, they can pick up pace and sustain their business from then on.”

South Johor Petty and Mobile Traders Association chairman Datuk Yow Boon Choon said the trend of youths taking up lots at pasar malam started picking up about three to four years ago.

He said the upward trend of people switching careers during and after the Covid-19 pandemic was because many wanted to be the boss instead of working nine-to-five jobs.

“Close to half of the 1,000-odd members in our association are in their 20s and 30s.

“Most of them have creative and trendy ideas and sell food that appeal to the younger crowd such as sushi, Thai milk tea and Taiwanese desserts,” he said, adding that many were doing quite well despite only going into business for a short period of time.

Yow added that traditionally, pasar malam traders sell apparel, household products and kitchen utensils but they were slowly phasing out due to changing consumer trends and the rise of ecommerce.

“We also noticed a significant drop in other businesses like fruit and vegetable sellers, and fishmongers.

“Based on feedback from members, they foresee stalls selling sundry goods getting phased out soon because their regular customers are growing old and there are not many new and young customers supporting their business.

“Younger customers prefer buying groceries and sundry goods at hypermarkets or online.

“Some senior traders have switched to selling food and beverage to earn a living,” he said.

On a brighter note, he said young traders were pulling in more youths to night markets, which was a good sign.

“This helps to spur the local economy while creating a platform for healthy competition among the traders,” he said. — By YEE XIANG YUN
Pasar Malam,Night Market,Traders,Youths,Business,Entrepreneur
THERE is a rising trend of youths opting to trade at night markets, say pasar malam organisers.