Thursday November 3, 2005

Have a good time at Mini Kelantan

BY MARSHA TAN
PHOTOS BY ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG

Shopping for Hari Raya is a must at the bazaar in Kota Tinggi which will be cramped with people doing the festive month.

The Kota Tinggi Bazaar, better known as Mini Kelantan because of the many traders who come from Kelantan and speak the Kelantanese dialect, has been a hive of activity in recent days.

The bazaar has attracted visitors from all over Johor and Singapore to look for mainly silk batik cloth, shirts and blouses, gold jewellery, toys and artificial flowers.

BURST OF COLOURS: Wong Meiw Leng (right) and Hee Shi Hui arranging artificial flowers they are selling.

Many customers said that they visit the bazaar a few times a month because items sold there were “cheaper, of better quality and there were far more choices” compared to those found in the city or shops.

Singaporean Saniah Salleh, 56, who arrived with four friends, said they visited the bazaar every fortnight to check out new arrivals.

“The cloths here are cheaper than in bigger towns and there is so much choice!” she laughed.

Norfaiezah Mohamad, 27, from Pontian, said there were always new thing on sale, and she would visit the market every weekend.

Her businessman husband, Khairul Nisham Daimin, also 27, said his wife has bought so many cloths that she had a whole wardrobe choked with them.

“We come here every weekend because my wife loves to shop and we often go home with bags of cloths and silk batik blouses!” laughed Khairul.

For the goldsmiths, most of their clients sought out unique patterns and designs, usually opting for delicate flowery designs.

Another Singaporean, Sapuan Mohamad Yun, 39, said he often accompanied his wife to the bazaar to buy silk batik as it has a huge variety of materials and colours to choose from.

“It’s convenient to be able to find Kelantanese-styled items here as we do not have to travel all the way to the north.

“The designs here are really nice and the colours are rich and simply beautiful,” said the logistics officer, adding that they would visit the bazaar every fortnight.

POINT OF DISCUSSION: Enah Atan,36, and her daughter Nanie Mustaffa, 15, looking at a new set of curtains

According to a shopowner, the cloths most of the outlets sold were from Kelantan, Terengganu and countries such as Japan, China, Cambodia, Thailand and South Korea.

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