Wet markets appeal to me. They’re wet, as in squishy, and they often smell of freshly cut meats and fish – which is altogether not a very nice smell, but it’s something you don’t get to sniff nowadays in the age of supermarkets and hypermarkets. Now, most of us city folk get our freshly-cut meat and seafood from styrofoam containers sanitised by plastic shrink wrap and more often than not, you don’t get to see the people who de-scale or debone your fish and meats.
This photoessay by SK Szekiat first struck me because of it’s cold, stark, almost clinical colours, where I had remembered my wet markets as vibrant and warm places of activity. But his starting sentences said it all – the pictures were taken a few years ago and the market (which I can’t identify) is now “history”. Wet markets, while still around, might become a rarity in the future, but they have that personal touch that the more modern markets don’t have. Notice also the amount of personal contact there is between the buyers and sellers. Ah, it takes a true cook to develop a relationship with their butchers and fishmongers so that they can suss out the fish and meats they want!
See the Wet Market here.
3 Responses
Thank you for posting up such a nice article.
After reading through the article and browsing through the pictures, this really reminds me of the day when I’m still a little kid.
My grandma used to bring me to the wet-market on every weekends. And in the wet-market, I will always hear the ducks and chickens “singing”, besides that, also seeing “fish-scales” flying.
But now, with my grandma’s departure, most of the wet-markets also gone.
Posted on October 5th, 2006 at 4:23 am
Do you remember the old Keok Road market on the junctions of Orchard Road and Keok Road? I wish someone who has a photo of that will post that up.
I can still remember it from my childhood days…
Any old photos of Keok Road itself? Anyone?
Posted on October 5th, 2006 at 7:43 am
I cannot agree more.
Personally, I visit the wet market 1-2 times a week and indeed the relationship built with the uncle and aunties is something i treasure. There is a strong sense of familiarity and comfort when I visit my wet market where I go around saying hi to the store owners. They would ask me how i was, what i wanna cook tonight etc… like old friends.
Posted on May 13th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
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