PULAU TIKUS MARKET, located along Jalan Pasar between Jalan Cantonment and Solok Moulmein, first opened in the 1950s. The wet market is a vibrant, bustling place where families from different backgrounds gather each morning to sell fruits, vegetables, fish and poultry. It forms the core around which dry stalls sell items such as traditional medicine, kitchen and laundry items, bread, snacks and clothing.

Over the years, while Penang’s street food hawkers have long enjoyed extensive social media coverage, the same cannot be said of such vendors. Through this photo essay, I hope to provide greater awareness of the stories, struggles and successes of these wet market vendors.

Lim Leok Ho

“Do you find this job very hard?” “Okay lah!”

Lim and his parents start their day in the dark at 5am and make their way to the market, where they have been running their fresh fruit stall for over 20 years. He did not attend university, and decided instead, at a young age, to continue his family business when his parents retire. According to Lim, many young people do not aspire to go into this business anymore because they must wake up at 4am and take on strenuous work daily.

But Lim is content. He has been doing this since he was 10, including weekends and public holidays. Lim works seven days a week and only takes a break over Chinese New Year. After work ends in the afternoon, he watches TV and plays some basketball. Lim’s last overseas holiday—a week in China—was 10 years ago. Perhaps he will go again this year. Perhaps not.

Lim speaks various languages, switching seamlessly between them depending on the customer. He works quickly but calmly, chatting with customers, weighing and bagging the fruit—expertly cut by his mum— calculating the price and receiving payment in a continual flow. Lim does not “keep the change”, and will catch up with you if you try to run off without your change.

Lim enjoys his work because he gets to meet and interact with customers from all backgrounds, but my safe guess is that he is also deeply happy to spend time with parents, who must be proud to see him take over the family fruit stall.

Julie Lum

“Just right for me.”

Julie Lum runs a dry goods stall selling items such as chillies, spices, ginger and dried prawns. Julie is elderly and has been working at the market for 12 years. Before that, she worked in a factory. She was happy to retire, but soon after, felt that she was left with “nothing much to do”. So, Julie started helping her father at the stall, and continued even after he left.

Julie has one day off each week, on top of one week of annual leave during Chinese New Year. Her hours are slightly more forgiving compared to most of the wet market vendors. She starts work later, at 7am, as there is not much preparation needed, and she closes around midday. By 2pm, Julie would have tidied up and prepared her stall for the next day’s trade. But when she gets home, she likes to do simpler tasks like packing dried prawns into small packets. Her daughter, Jolene, who has a full-time job, helps out with closing the stall on weekends.

Selling dried goods is perfect for Julie. Due to their small size, she does not have to do much heavy lifting; she also does not have to stand up all day or move about much. Instead, she mostly serves and interacts with her customers while seated. A well-spoken woman, Julie enjoys providing free advice on the best chillies and spices to use in particular dishes and how to prepare them.

Selvan and Rathambal

“Working for a living, not just money.”

Based on the number of customers I see always gathered at his stall, Selvan is a popular vegetable man. He and his wife, Rathambal, work together; this year will be their 10th business anniversary. Selvan normally heads off to the wholesale farm at 4am on his motorbike to bring back the best produce, while Rathambal prepares the stall. By 6.30am, Selvan arrives at the Pulau Tikus Market and unpacks the vegetables stacked high on his motorbike. He separates the local from the imported stock and arranges them. If time permits, Selvan takes orders on WhatsApp and gets back on his motorbike to make home deliveries. Selvan does not want to retire and “twiddle thumbs”. He points to a neighbour a few stalls down who still works at the age of 86, and says that he wants to be like him.

A Kedah native, he moved to Penang as a child and studied until Form Five. After graduating, he worked in a factory, but took a job at a vegetable shop in Hong Seng Estate in Mount Erskine a year later. He stayed there for 15 years until he was head-hunted to set up a stall at Pulau Tikus Market.

The couple takes one day off each week, usually on Mondays, when the market is less hectic. Overseas holidays are rare—they have only been to India once. After work, they relax at home—Selvan drinks coffee and Rathambal cooks dinner. Being vegetarians, most of the high-quality ingredients they need are at hand from their stall. Any produce that has wilted is given to a farm as animal feed.

Selvan and Rathambal both have winning smiles and are happy to work hard despite the heat, humidity and long hours at the market.

Dallas and Mary

“Once upon a time, this place was really buzzing.”

Dallas and Mary also run a vegetable stall, but they have an unconventional way of organising their lives—their morning preparations start the night before.

After the wet market closes, they go home to feed their cats, eat dinner and make a list of what they need to buy at the wholesale market at 10pm. Sometimes, to relax, Mary goes out with friends for karaoke or dinner. After that, the couple would head off to the wholesale supplier and handpick the freshest vegetables. They usually finish around 11.30pm. In the past, they had tried to get supplies delivered, but were unsatisfied with the quality. Dallas and Mary wake up at 4am the next day, skip breakfast and go straight to their stall at Pulau Tikus Market.

As for how it all began—well, this is where things get complicated. The vegetable stall has been operating for approximately 40 years. In the beginning, Dallas’ brother was working for the father of a man called Muthu. Then, Muthu’s father went back to India, leaving Muthu in charge. As Muthu aged, Dallas and his wife took over the stall from his brother, who had taken over from Muthu. Now in his old age, Muthu continues to work for Dallas and Mary, who have now managed the stall for about 20 years.

Dallas and Mary take one week off during Christmas; their overseas trips are rare, with the latest being in 2018. When asked why they enjoy selling vegetables despite the hard work, long hours and early dawn start, Mary thinks for a moment and says, “Yeah, it’s weird.” The easy answer is that her previous job as a shift worker was boring and paid very little. And like most people, Dallas and Mary have bills to pay and their child’s education to fund. But of course, should Mary win a million ringgit, she would retire and take a big holiday.

Looking around, I suddenly realise that Dallas and Mary’s vegetable stall is adjacent to Selvan and Rathambal’s. I pluck up the courage to ask if there had ever been rivalry or friction between them, being so close together. There was none, says Mary, the relationship has been friendly. And if she runs out of a certain produce like kailan, she can also buy some from her neighbours to top-up if they have some.

While business is good overall, it is not as great as it was pre-Covid, possibly due to increased competition from online shopping and big supermarkets. These days, younger customers seem fewer too.

Pulau Tikus Market is sometimes known as “pasar orang kaya” (rich people’s market), but this misconception plays down the realities and lives of the locals there. The vendors’ produce is fresh, tasty and nutritious, selected by people who have dignity, integrity, tenacity and a never-say-no attitude. There are many stories at the market that have yet to be told—perhaps young parents and their kids could visit to hear for themselves.