Photo Credit: The Straits Times
Sungei Road Thieves Market—which first started out in the 1930s and has been around for around eight decades—will officially close on 10 July 2017.
The popular flea market will be dearly missed by Singaporeans when it is due for closure in order to make way for construction of the Sungei Road MRT station.
Known as the “Thieves Market” because of its notorious reputation in dealing with stolen items, it is now a popular marketplace for tourists and locals who are looking for affordable household or vintage items.
Let’s take a walk down memory lane today and revisit some of the fondest memories many of us have forged there. Here are 6 Reasons Why We Will Miss Sungei Road Thieves Market.
#1 IT IS SINGAPORE’S OLDEST AND LARGEST FLEA MARKET
According to the National Heritage Board, this is currently the biggest and oldest flea market you can find in Singapore. The flea market spans across Pasar Lane, Larut Road and Pitt Street.
However, Sungei Road Flea Market has been greatly reduced to half its size in 2011. So make sure you revisit this gem again before it is completely gone!
#2 THE FLEA MARKET HAS A RICH HISTORY
Also called the “Thieves Market”, this is a place people used to go looking for their lost or stolen items. In the early days, there were also peddlers who sold smuggled and illegal goods there as well. Can you imagine that?
With regular checks from the authorities, such cases are now rarely seen anymore. The police conduct regular checks to keep illegal items from being sold there.
Photo Credit: The Straits Times
#3 ONE OF THE FEW PLACES TO BARGAIN IN SINGAPORE
The closure of Sungei Road Flea Market also meant there will be one less place in Singapore where you can actually bargain when shopping. We will surely miss the lively atmosphere and unique shopping experience which you cannot find in shopping malls.
#4 WHERE YOU CAN LOOK FOR SECOND-HAND ITEMS
Looking for affordable second-hand items? You will find them all at Sungei Road Flea Market! Walk down the aisles of makeshift stalls selling pre-loved items at wallet-friendly prices.
#5 THE ENDLESS VARIETY OF THINGS SOLD
If there is one thing that makes the flea market stand out, it has to be the sheer variety of goods on offer. Items range from electronics, jewellery and video tapes to clothing, shoes and handphones.
It is like a karang guni shop where you can find anything you need, but bigger and better.
#6 IT IS UNLIKE YOUR USUAL SHOPPING MALLS IN SINGAPORE
Although it can be rather humid to walk around this open spaced market, it is a different environment from the many shopping malls in Singapore that are starting to look alike. Those who are bringing their foreign friends around Singapore should consider bringing them to the Thieves Market instead!
As it is unlikely that the Sungei Road Flea Market would relocate to another site, it would be a shame not to visit this iconic site before it disappears forever.
May I ask any one know where they get all those goods from and sell at sungei road? Thanks
someone ever told me before in hokkien but I could understand that place
if only our over paid and under performing civil servants could think out of the box, they could have marketed the new mrt line and station opening together, imagine a brand new mrt station, a symbol of modern spore next to a old market that has been there since before WWII, a symbol of old spore long before our independance, all they had to do was clean it up a bit, have some temporary shelters and walkways, running water, mobile toilets, lighting for weekends or if it closes late. imagine…the very old next to the very new, step out of a modern station into a living museum……the possibilities are endless as far as marketing of the the new line and our history…..