"Pasar Malam"

"Pasar malam" is a Malay word that literally means night market and in my vicinity there are three different "pasar malam" sites that operates on different days of the week. The “pasar malam” that we frequent is the one on Thursdays and is just about two hundred meters opposite our house.

In the past “pasar malam” almost equate to cheap stuff at a cheap price but nowadays it is still cheap stuff but more likely at an expensive price. Most people expect the prices to be lower than those in the shops because these vendors do not have to pay maintenance and rentals for shop space but this is no longer true. Like any other business people I believed these people want to maximize their profits too. So to play this game we have to be smart shoppers, target for reasonable prices and do not assume the prices were cheap, check it out first and compare prices.

The "pasar malam" is a convinent place to get veggies, fruits and sundries, sometimes snacks too. Comparing to the open air market in my area the "pasar malam" varieties of products are much more. Patronising the same stall has it advantages, we get regular customer treatment ........ sometimes special discount too! Anyway being a smart shopper is always the best way to shop.