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Food Street: The Thin Line Between Paradise and Nightmare
J-on
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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By
Yap Suan Zi, Lim Siew Tong, Leong Zu Er and Chai Jing Hsuan
“I’m hungry but I’m so lazy to
cycle to new town.”
“Lazy? Don’t worry. There’s a street food
paradise nearby.”
There are more and more street
vendors selling foods, drinks and snacks along the way from Westlake student
hostels to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) since the beginning of this
year.
According to the observation of the
reporters, there are around 10 vendors along the street during the day and 5
vendors at night. Their business reaches a peak between 12noon to 1pm and between
5-7 in the evening when most of the UTAR students have finished their classes
and are on their way back home.
“When I first came to UTAR in 2010,
there was only 1 vendor here. But now, more keeps popping up,” said Jess Ing,
UTAR Commerce Accounting Year 3 student.
“I moved to Kampar last year and I remembered
there were only three vendors here. Until recently, I started to realize that it
has become something like a food market,” said Tan Tai Chi, UTAR Chinese
Studies Year 2 student.
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Street
Food Paradise: The path from Westlake student hostels
to UTAR has become a place for the street vendors to start their business.
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High
Demands
The distance from UTAR to Kampar
new town (Bandar Baru Kampar) is around 2 kilometers, which takes almost half
an hour to reach by cycling. Due to this reason, many students with bicycles prefer
to buy their food from the street vendors operating their business along the
road for convenience.
“The sun burns and I’m so tired
after classes that I don’t feel like cycling all the way to New Town to have my
lunch, so I just buy my food here,” said Teh Xue Ying, a UTAR student who cycles
to and from campus every day.
Reporters found out that there is
actually a short-cut from UTAR to Kampar New Town. It only takes around 15
minutes to reach New Town if UTAR students are allowed to cycle through the
KTAR access gate. However, according to Student Affairs Department of UTAR,
cyclist and ill attired students are not allowed to pass through the KTAR
access gate, effective from 15 November 2010. They commented that this was due
to the inappropriate attire of UTAR students and complaints from KTAR. This
rule actually created business opportunities for the street vendors.
“If I can pass through KTAR gate, I
may cycle to New Town to eat rather than buy food along the way since there are
more choices outside,” said Kok Poh Earn, UTAR Construction Management Year 2
student.
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Prohibited
Entry: A security guard ensures that cyclists and ill attired
students do not cross the KTAR access gate.
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Even for the students who are not
cycling, many of them will buy food from the street vendors instead of going out
to New Town due because of the convenience. “It is so convenient for the
Westlake residents to buy food here as the street hawkers are just outside our
housing area,” said Goh Soo Whei, a UTAR student who owns a car.
Many vendors see the high demands
and business opportunities that appear in this area and thus decided to start
their business here. It seems to have become the main reason for the increasing
numbers of street vendors popping up beside the walkway and bicycle route from
Westlake student hostels to UTAR.
“Students feel lazy to cycle to new town, so
they just buy their lunch or dinner here. I think I might get a higher income
compared to having a stall or shop at New Town,” said an Indian street vendor
who started her business here since 1 year ago.
“I used to sell Chinese steamed
buns and “dim sum” in Ipoh, but I decided to move and started my business here because
I heard that this place has a very high demand,” said Alan, who just came to
Kampar three weeks ago.
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Alan:
A lot of people said that this place has huge demands.
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High demands:
There are a lot of students buying food from the street vendors since early in
the morning and late into the night.
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Business
License
A total of 15 vendors, with
different reasons for having business here, most of them said that they have
already applied the business license and permit from Kampar District Council
(Majlis Daerah Kampar, MDKpr) so that they can operate their business here
legally. However, the reply from MDKpr is always pending.
“I have already applied for my business
license and now I’m just waiting for the reply. Since many students also support
the vendors to sell food here, I think it shouldn’t be a problem to get the
business license from government,” said Mrs Goh, who started her business here since
2 weeks ago.
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Goh:
Most of the street vendors here have already applied for the business license.
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According to the Official Portal of MDKpr, it is
compulsory for every hawker to apply a business license and permit before they can
start a business anywhere around the Kampar district to meet the legal
requirements of the law. Nevertheless, some of the street vendors are refusing
to apply for the business license and permit.
“It is so difficult to get a business license
from the government. Since I don’t have a license, I can only beg the officials
to be more lenient so that they will not penalize me more than necessary if I’m
really caught as an illegal vendor,” said one of the street vendors.
There are some procedures for the street
vendors to apply for business license from MDKpr. For example, vendors are
required to prepare their business registration certificates, premise
assessment tax and many other documents before they can apply for the special business license. Moreover,
they also need to attend food handling courses, get the agreement or permission
letter from Westlake residents and pay RM54 in order to get the business
license. This means that the vendors are in deficit before they can earn their profits
from their business. This seems to have become the other reason for some of the
vendors to run their business without licensing and permits.
Problems Arise
Street
vendors bring conveniences to Westlake residents but they create a lot of
problems to the local community at the same time. One of the two lane walkway
has been blocked due to the operation of street vendors. Most of the vendors park
their vehicles beside the road for their own convenience while many drivers will
also do the same in order to buy food from the street vendors.
“It is so dangerous when the car in
front of you simply stop so suddenly just to buy food from one of the sellers,”
said Leong Khei Lip, a UTAR student who drives to campus. He further added,
“Sometimes it also causes traffic jam.”
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Illegal
side parking: Most of the street vendors will park
their car at the side of the road and this can easily cause accidents and minor traffic jam.
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Dangerous
situation: People who want to buy food from the street vendors
simply park their bicycle and motorcycle beside the road.
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Street vendors not only affect the
drivers but the cyclists too. Students who want to buy food from the street
vendors will usually park their bicycles along the two way bicycle track. “The bicycle
track is already very narrow but then the parked bicycles block the way. I’m
always scared that I might crash into another bicycle,” said Nga Lee Boon, who
cycle from Westlake student hostel to UTAR.
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Risks
for cyclists: Students who stop to buy food from the
street vendors cause a lot of inconveniences to other cyclists.
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Are these street vendors providing
a food paradise for the local community? Or is it a nightmare for some of the
people? Surely, it will be safer if there are no stalls and vehicles parked at
the side of the road, but bear in mind that Westlake residents will need to go
a long distance to go to Kampar New Town to buy their food. If the local
community wishes to have both convenience and safety at the same time, they
should request the local government to make some proper arrangements so that
the street vendors can continue to operate their business here without causing
problems to any parties.
