A social hub for everyone to experience and learn more about the Malay heritage and culture
Written by: Sng Yan Ting, Joel Ng, Nur Lailatul
Caption: Geylang Serai Market is known as one of Singapore’s oldest Malay settlements, the market got its name from the cultivation of serai (lemongrass) during the 19th century. (PHOTO: Sng Yan Ting)
Hand in Hand
Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre is known for its Malay culture, food, and identity — which can be seen through its wide variety of traditional Malay cuisine, as well as being one of Singapore’s oldest Malay settlements.
It is a place where you can find Malay people all around you, from hawkers to vendors, and patrons. Just like Chinatown and Little India which shines the brightest for their own traditions and culture, the Malays have Geylang Serai.
Coming together at Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre, it was their own community where they could feel accepted and at home to practise their Malay traditions and embrace their culture.
The community life and heritage of Malay traditions and culture blooming within Geylang Serai began with the hawkers and vendors - sharing the wide variety of Malay dishes, spices, textiles, and trinkets for all to enjoy and explore.
“This hawker centre has been around for ages, long before I opened up my stall here”, said Mdm Salbiah Binte Hassan, a 70-year-old hawker at Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre.
Mdm Salbiah had worked at her stall, Warung Yes Boss, which had existed for more than 20 years prior to her joining back in 1994 before Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre was a two-storey building.
“I remember back when I first started out, the people selling groceries were at the same level as us,” said Mdm Salbiah, as she recounts the difference between then and now. Back then, hawkers like her were separated from the wet market, with their stores situated outside the wet market.
Caption: Mdm Salbiah Binte Hassan closing up at her shop, Warung Yes Boss, which has existed since 1974. (PHOTO: Nur Lailatul)
Hawkers like Mdm Salbiah would frequently visit the wet market before opening hours to stock up on the ingredients they needed for the day, keeping the business afloat. These hawkers and the wet market vendors have a symbiotic relationship that continues to exist even till now, building a friendly bond between the two within the Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre’s community.
Despite the vast majority of the community within Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre being Malay Muslims and Indian Muslims, Mdm Chong Yi Lan, 65, a textile shop owner, is one of the few Chinese store owners. They had worked there for over 40 years.
“There is no discrimination, conflict, or competition between us, most of the time, we would just help each other out,” said Mdm Chong.
Mdm Chong was one of the pioneer generation stall owners, having worked at Geylang Serai Market when it had just started out.
Caption: Mdm Chong Yi Lan, 65, and her husband have been operating their textile store for the past 40 years while seeing the reconstruction and transformation of Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre. (PHOTO: Joel Ng)
This is Geylang Serai's soul—bringing Malay people together and upholding traditional cultural customs—was what gave its uniqueness.
“Being part of this community made me feel at peace and accepted.”
Caption: A patron of the market since she was 15, Mdm Siti finds joy in coming to the area and purchasing the food. (PHOTO: Nur Lailatul)
Patrons like Mdm Siti Nor Aisha, a 48-year-old secretary who has been visiting the market since her youth, the market holds lots of fond memories, as well as meaning for her. Having been a customer of the market even before the demolition, Mdm Siti has seen all the changes that have passed with every year, noting that while the building has evolved, the community has slowly trickled down.
Mdm Siti always knew that if she was looking for particular spices and vegetables to use in her Malay dishes, she could always depend on Geylang, as nearby supermarkets usually did not carry what she needed.
“It’s the place I grew up going to, just like how teens nowadays go to shopping malls, this was my shopping mall.”
On days when she did not feel like cooking, she could always buy food from the large variety of hawker stalls. When in search of Malay clothes, be it hijabs for everyday use, or traditional clothing, Mdm Siti knew she could always turn to GSMFC — it was the equivalent of Chinatown for the Malays.
Time Capsule Opened
Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre soon experienced a new change, as the old one-storey structure was demolished to make way for a bigger building.
The development of Geylang Serai Malay Village in 1984, and its construction also pushed Geylang Serai to undergo their own renovations. However, Geylang Serai Market went independent and started to refurbish itself in 2006 when the Village was experiencing enormous losses, demolishing the market and rebuilding it into what we see now.
During that period of time, the hawkers and vendors had been moved away to an open ground at Paya Lebar, where a temporary market had been built so that these individuals could continue the sales of their items for the next three years.
When Mdm Salbiah and other vendors moved their stalls to Paya Lebar, she said, "I was worried that some of the characteristics that defined Geylang Serai would be lost and we would lose that community life I so adored."
All hopes would not be lost as the newly refurbished Geylang Serai still reflected Malay culture in its architectural design, which was modelled after a Malay Kampung house.
Vendors came back to the newly constructed Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre feeling joyful that the physical space where the community amongst vendors has grown bigger, allowing them to further incorporate Malay culture and traditions into their work.
“I think although the building changed and looks completely different from last time, the community is still the same. I am grateful that this part of our Malay culture was protected from the renovations.”
Caption: When Geylang Serai Market closed for renovations in 2006, Mr Ghazi was one of the many vendors who moved their business to Paya Lebar to continue making a living until Geylang Serai’s reopening in 2011. (PHOTO: Joel Ng)
For vendors such as the spice stall vendor, Mr Ghazi Yamani Bajrai, 71, coming back from the Paya Lebar temporary move, it seems that the kampung spirit did not fizzle off despite the many changes they faced throughout the years, but remained in each and every resident of Geylang Serai.
As more young people visited the building to experience the many Malay cultural practices and learn more about their history with Geylang Serai, the hawkers and vendors' business grew.
“It was exciting to see how many people were coming in to try more Malay food and learn about our culture”.
It has evolved into a neighbourhood that has retained its rich history, customs, and tales of individuals from all walks of life serving as a centre for learning about and appreciating Malay cuisines.
Enter the Pandemic
Caption: The life of Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre after the Covid-19 period. (PHOTO: Joel Ng)
During the festive seasons like Hari Raya, Hari Raya Haji and Puasa, you can expect to see Geylang Serai crowded with other Malay people celebrating with one another. But when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit Singapore in 2020, it forced all hawkers and vendors to close shop due to the Circuit Breaker - where everyone had to go on lockdown to prevent and contain the spread of the disease.
The hawkers and vendors in Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre suffered from this setback since there were considerable losses in their revenue. As more people started making purchases online, many vendors, like Mr Ghazi struggled to find optimism in preserving the Malay culture inside Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre as business declined even further.
As hawkers and vendors like Mdm Salbiah and Mr Ghazi return to Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre, the everlasting impact upon the hustle and bustle was evident as bright as day when the once full crowd of patrons within the building depleted close to none.
Initially working from six in the morning to five in the afternoon, Mdm Salbiah had to eventually adjust her working hours during and after the pandemic. With the lack of customers, coupled with the hiking prices of items, it was much more prudent to close the shop earlier, seeing as barely anyone would come to the food centre after two in the afternoon.
“Trying to make business work now is completely different, along with the Covid-19 pandemic, it stole almost all the customers away,” said Mr Ghazi, who shared similar thoughts to Mdm Salbiah, in regards to the impact of the pandemic.
Many people are concerned about the future of Geylang Serai because the majority of the vendors are suffering greatly from the effects of Covid-19 and business is not as brisk as it once was.
“This is the only place left where the Malay heritage truly shines, if business continues to go down, who knows what will happen to Geylang Serai”, said Mr Ghazi, as he arranges the items.
Looking forward
In Mr Ghazi’s words, there is no place like Geylang — it is the only Malay hub, there is nothing ‘haram’ there, everything there is ‘halal’. It can even be regarded as a ‘Halal Hub’, as all items sold within the area are permissible for consumption and use.
Although teenagers nowadays tend to avoid such locations in favour of fast food restaurants and shopping malls, they hope that these children will still make their way into this location and relight the fire, keeping the Malay culture alive, by keeping GSMFC alive.
“It’s all up to the future generations, which is difficult since all these children prefer western food and all,” Said Mdm Siti, sighing. “But Geylang Serai’s market is important to our Malay culture, and it is one-of-a-kind.”
While she notes that old locations like Geylang would struggle to keep up with shopping malls was difficult, especially from the younger generation, Mdm Siti continued to show support for the location by bringing her children over during celebrations like the last day of the fasting month, where several from the Muslim community would dine-in and celebrate the upcoming Hari Raya.
She would continue such practices, in hopes of instilling in her children the importance of the location, and hoping that just like her, her children would also come to have a fondness for GSMFC, and would one day pass this sentiment to their own children. She also hopes that fellow Malay and Muslims would do the same, so as to impart the importance of this building.
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