#067: Brickfields wet market

A back alley market in the city.

Recently, I’ve been taking short trips into different markets around town, like the one I showcased about Pudu markets in my previous post. This time around, as I was out and about on my own early one Sunday morning, so I decided to check out the small weekend Brickfields market. I had photographed in this market a long time ago, and I was curious to see if it was still as interesting and maybe as vibrant as I remembered.

The whole area of Brickfields is changing rapidly. On this side, where the market is, it’s still holding on to some semblance of what old Brickfields used to be. And just a block over, we have towering concrete and glass structures dominating the skyline, and a crowded central transport hub that draws in all walks of life. A little further down the road, and you’ll get to the relatively new and refurbished “Little India” section of Brickfields, full of vibrant colours, people, shops and food. Also in the background of this alley, the now prominent skyscraper of Kuala Lumpur, the second tallest building in the world (at the time of writing) the Merdeka 118 Tower.

But back over here, in this rustic back alley, a small collective of vendors open shop for a few hours on the weekend (some weekdays too) to sell local fresh produce to the denizens of the area. I remember it being a little bit more vibrant and lively, with a few more stalls than I currently see. It was early on a Sunday, and I suppose the hustle and bustle of market activity would have gotten better after I left. I don’t know for sure, but perhaps another visit at a slightly different time will give me a better idea of how “exciting” this market could be.

These scenes may not last much longer, given the gentrification brewing in the area. Some other street markets like this in the city I know have stopped or have been ushered away into more permanent fixtures. As the modernisation machine keeps chugging along, let’s see how many of these vestiges of the old city will remain.

All photos taken with the Nikon ZF.

Cheers.