It’s the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which means it’s a time when the night bazaars set up shop in Geylang Serai and Arab street selling all kinds of yummy food for breaking fast and festive items for the upcoming holiday. For me, a non-Muslim, the night bazaars are the closest thing I’ve seen to a night market or pasar malam in Singapore. Besides Geylang,  a pasar malam also sets up shop in my neighbourhood every few months, selling festive trinkets and foods (like the legendary Ramly burger and other deep fried foods on a stick) albeit on a smaller scale. These neighbourhood pasar malams stay around for two weeks and these days seem to be open throughout the day – but as I find out later in my Malaysian experience, these two kinds of pasar malams aren’t really pasar malams at all.

In Penang where I also live, the pasar malam happens every week at a specified day – in my neighourhood it’s Saturday evening, and on other days the stores that make up the pasar malam set up shop in other neighbourhoods. Unlike the modern pasar malams in Singapore, where the focus is on carnival foods and apparel, the pasar malams here are still very much like ‘pasars’ – not only can you pick up cooked food for dinner, you can also do all your grocery shopping as vendors also sell fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry, meat and seafood. In many cases, these foods have been caught or harvested the very same day! Of course, people who want to buy fresh food from the pasar malam learn to do it early in the evening rather than late.

So after seeing the Malaysian pasar malam experience, it was interesting to relook the Singapore pasar malams. Singapore night markets are more “structured”: large fancy tents with proper lights and fans, while in Malaysia it’s quite literally a bring-your-own-tent affair. Another big difference I see is how pasar malams here are treated like special festive events, while in Malaysia it’s a regular way of life.  I do know that pasar malams were still common in Singapore during the 1960s and 1970s. According to Edward Williams, who lived in the Sembawang Hills Estate* in the 1960s:

One of the highlights of the week for us was our Sunday night market or pasar malam. On Sunday night temporary stores stretched for over a mile along Upper Thomson Road. The market offered toys, textile, clothing, footwear, jewellery, records, cooked food etc. Most of the stores were simply wooden tables and makeshift stands where goods were displayed. It was a magical experience, to walk the entire stretch lit by hurricane lamps and immersed yourself in the spirit of the environment.

It looks like the pasar malams I’ve experienced in Malaysia once existed in Singapore. So how and when did Singapore pasar malams evolve into their current state?

*You can read more about Edward Williams’ memories of Sembawang Hills Estate in Good Morning Yesterday.