What do you think about wet markets?

Posted by: SHIHONG
Posted on: December 27th, 2009

The two articles evoked a gamut of emotions and thoughts in me. It is easy to overlook the significance(existence) of wet markets with the uiquitous supermarkets and the latter's ability to promote themselves. I used to patronise wet markets every Sunday morning when I was young. I am clueless about exact disparities but these were not the old markets described in the articles-at least, they existed in a later era. Rather, I would label them as "modern" wet markets as those I visited would not be foreign to any in Singapore today. Hence, partly because of the change in standard of living and wants, the associations with the two types also differed. For instance, I did not view the purchase of meat at wet markets as rare or priviledged. Instead, it was a given that meat, enough to last a few days or a week, would be bought. The wet market was thus special in other ways. One was the time spent as a family, the contribution to a shared activity(by carrying the purchases or making suggestions about what food to buy) and the invariable conclusion of each visit with a Brunch at the accompanying hawker centre. It also perhaps most importantly a source of stability-as much as the expectation that I would be watching cartoons on Saturday morning. It afforded a sense of order and control, despite the turbulences of the preceding six days of the week. It was a means of pleasantly spending a Sunday morning that needed no planning, consent or arguments. The wet market has become as important to me as the school or home. Nowadays, the wet market might be relegated beneath the supermarkets, the hypermarts and other markets labelled with numerous superlatives that serve the same function but are different in many respects. It was perhaps only a matter of time that a supermarket was called "Giant". Yet, there were parallels between the wet markets of the two eras. The babble and squabble over price. The smell of raw meat. The slippery floor that renders the market more like a bathroom. The gruesome innards and such that are triumphantly and unapolegetically hung to impress(repulse). The bewildering array of raw food that looks so different from their cooked state. It was an intoxicating experience that a child could not easily attain in modern Singapore. It was about being that bit closer to the rearing areas. One,in a wet market in Chua Chu Kang, need not go to a farm in Lim Chu Kang to encounter the animals in a more unadulterated form. It was therefore like a visit to the farm or pet shop. It is perhaps expected that comparisons be made between the wet markets and supermarkets because one is intrigued about two entities equally capable of satisfying a general need and are nonetheless similar and different. One can argue about the respective benefits proffered or the drawbacks exacted. However, one need not dwell on this debate. The paramount concern is to preserve at least one wet market so that future generations can experience this unique adventure. If most in Singapore concurs that the monumental value of the wet market is measureless, Singapore should induct a wet market into the "halls of heritage". There are various reasons for preserving wet markets-even if we discount nostalgia which might not withstand a cost-benefit analysis-and some are contained in the articles. However,wet markets are dispensible even if the romantic refuses to concede this. One can survive on supermarkets. People of diverse economic and social standing patronise supermarkets. It is not a market that is exclusively for the capital and its elite adherents. I buy food from both wet markets and supermarkets though generally, the higher prices charged by supermarkets is the only gripe I have about the latter. The stallowners in wet markets can find alternative employment-regardless of the willingness to do so. The produce can be sold in supermarkets. It is thus interesting to learn the fate of Singapore's wet markets and a part of our history.

Posted by: noelbynature
Posted on: December 27th, 2009

I would think that the consistently lower prices and the freshness of the food (vegetables, especially) at the wet market is one of the reasons I would choose to do my shopping at the wet market rather than at a supermarket. That should be enough reason to keep wet markets around!