This year’s Geylang Serai Bazaar will focus on traditional Malay goods and halal food

Photo: Coconuts Media
Photo: Coconuts Media

Last week, organizers of the annual Geylang Serai Ramadan bazaar announced that stalls in 2019 would have their rentals capped, with a slant towards traditional Hari Raya items and halal food. This came after feedback from visitors about the hipster direction the popular event has been taking in recent years.

To stay true to its roots and identity, the market will return to tradition, to gain ground with Singapore’s Malay-Muslim community. Mayor of South East District, Dr Maliki Osman, said the event would celebrate the community’s culture and heritage, while welcoming Singaporeans of all races and ages.

Maliki, who is also Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, added that people want “that nostalgic feeling,” and so a bigger percentage of stalls this year will feature goods related to Hari Raya, within what’s described as a kampong atmosphere.

Set to run from May 3 to June 5, held in conjunction with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the bazaar will be put together by cultural heritage centre Wisma Geylang Serai for the first time. Arranged by theme, it will have a corner for modern trinkets and another for traditional Malay foods, spread over 500 booths. Rental costs will also be limited to a maximum of $14,000, compared to last year’s $20,000.

About 60 percent of food stalls will sell Malay items, while the rest can go full hipster if they want. However, they have to either be Muslim-owned, certified halal by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, or meet the halal criteria set by the organizers. Plus, 80 percent of the non-food stalls will hawk products related to the festive season, with the remaining offering lifestyle goods.

The entire grounds will be slightly smaller than before, but this is so the organizers can focus on quality over quantity. It’ll also feature larger walkways and spaces between each stall, with areas for Muslim visitors to sit and break fast – which would help with crowd control, seeing as how last year’s bazaar attracted a total of 1.86 million visitors.

Fingers crossed we won’t see any rainbow confections, unicorn desserts, or foods that pander more to the camera than the taste buds that millennials (and their Instagram accounts) seem to love.



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on