SIBU: Sibu Central Market (SCM) can be best described as the top tourist spot in town.
There are 1,100 hawker stalls in the market on weekdays and an additional 400 to 500 stalls on weekends when Ibans and Orang Ulus (minority people from the interior) jam the “tamu” (open-air market) section of SCM with their exotic jungle food and fruits.
SCM is divided into sections according to the goods sold by the hawkers.
The main sections are the wet and dry areas where hawkers sell fish and other seafood, slaughtered chickens and ducks, bean curd and bean sprout.
At the dry section, they sell all kinds of local and imported vegetables, fruits, dried fish and prawns, spices, handicraft, flowers and ornamental plants, sundry goods, drinks, homemade cakes, buns and other confectioneries.
Hawkers selling live chickens and ducks at the dry section attract the most attention from tourists as it is the way they bundle the feathery creatures that make them popular and famous.
Each bird is wrapped in newspaper, tied with nylon string and displayed in neat lines for customers to choose from.
It is set up on Saturday afternoon and closes at noon the following day. The natives display for a rainbow parade of jungle and farm products on the floor or low makeshift tables.
Among the unusual goods sold are live sago worms, frogs, kasam (preserved fish, pork or venison), fried insect larvae, wild jungle ferns, young palm shoots and wild fruits.
One will feel the overwhelming hospitality that Sarawakian natives are justifiably famous for.
SCM’s upper floor is occupied by food and drink stalls and also stalls that sell fashion and tailor-made items and shoes.
The market is managed by the Market and Petty Traders Committee, headed by an experienced councillor.
An adjacent multi-storey carpark built by Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) provides shoppers peace of mind as far as their cars are concerned when they shop or dine at SCM.
