MELAKA: Kampung Jawa, which has been a popular shopping destination for locals and tourists for more than 100 years, will be closed on May 31 to make way for the development of new projects.
Despite operating in a narrow lane, the business site which has more than 10 traders is not only famous among the people of Melaka but also outside the state to buy essential goods.
The closure of the business site, which is on a private land, will not only affect the traders, but also regular customers, especially the B40 group.
A trader, Sulaiman Omar, 61, said he has been selling clothes and items for haj and umrah in Kampung Jawa for almost 46 years and has regular customers from various ages and races.
“I have been doing business here since I was 15 years old. The traders here have been informed that they have to vacate their respective shops on May 31.
“We are very worried about our fate...if I don’t find a rental shop at a reasonable price, I will have to stop doing business,“ he told reporters when met here today.
Sulaiman said he and other traders had to comply with the landowner's instructions but hoped the state government could help find a new place for them to continue their business.
School uniforms trader, Salamah Mohamed, 63, who took over her late husband's business since 2002, also hopes that the government can establish a new business site in Kampung Jawa near the existing location.
Clothes trader, Koh Lian Neo, 70, who took over her mother-in-law's business for the past 40 years said that Kampung Jawa is not only a place to shop for necessities but is a historical and heritage site for the state of Melaka.
“Most people know Kampung Jawa. Not only Melaka people but also people from other states because we sell essential goods at cheap prices. Please keep Kampung Jawa, not for me or the traders here but for the poor and underprivileged,“ she said.
Another clothes trader Ng Kien Chiew, 55, said he was grateful that the land owner still gave them time to do business until May but was sad that he had to move from the business site that he had inherited from his father more than 30 years ago.-Bernama
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