MANY of us are familiar with Central Market in Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur. Walking into the building, which was built in 1888 by Yap Ah Loy, one is greeted by air-conditioned bliss and a plethora of shops selling trinkets, handicraft and clothes.
Those who knew of Central Market before 1986, however, will remember it for the busy, stinking, wet mess that it was.
The building, or Pasar Seni as it is now known, started life as a wet market. The market was eventually relocated, but the building was preserved, later becoming a centre for arts, culture and craft. Central Market was the epitome of Malaysian wet markets. And sadly, this is still the norm, for so many other markets.
One example is the Jalan Othman market in Petaling Jaya. Long after it was set to reopen after being shut following the detection of Covid-19 among traders, the market has still not resumed operations. This is due to the deplorable condition it was in.
It is a relatively big market, with multiple floors. The upper floors are meant for other businesses. But to get to these upper floors, one has to wade through the detritus of the ground floor wet market.
When the Federal Territories Ministry recently said it was mulling the redevelopment of the Selayang Wholesale Market to turn it into a modern facility, it invited nothing but plaudits, and rightly so. There was a large cluster of Covid-19 cases in and around the wholesale market.
In fact, studies have shown that unhygienic conditions at wet markets can lead to food-borne and zoonotic diseases and, as we well know, the Covid-19 pandemic is believed to have started at a wet market in Wuhan, China.
The modernisation of the Selayang Wholesale Market includes improvements to the facility which will see three to five times more floor space, hostels for workers in the compound, the use of technology related to mechanisation and green practices, such as the installation of solar panels as well as recycling facilities.
But the government must not stop there. It must consider similar steps for wet markets across Malaysia. These need not be particularly modern facilities, merely cleaner ones.
Modern markets are clean and hygienic. Such facilities exist throughout the United States and Europe. Take, for instance, markets in France.
Stalls are immaculate and orderly, offering produce straight from the farm and are not a turn-off for patrons. Some are even major tourist attractions.
Covid-19 has given us the opportunity — and, it has to be said, the added impetus — to heighten food security by improving sanitation and hygiene practices, as well as to improve food safety management systems.
This will go a long way towards preventing similar outbreaks and is, in fact, what the World Health Organisation insists must be done. It is in the country's best interests, and that of its people, to do so.
Our chase to achieve developed nation status would be of no use if we cannot even attain high food security levels by modernising market facilities to meet international hygiene levels.