SINGAPORE: More than two million people visited the annual Geylang Serai Hari Raya Bazaar this year, the highest number recorded and surpassing the 1.8 million visitors in 2018.
The bazaar was a “huge success”, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Jun 22) at Wisma Geylang Serai’s (WGS) Hari Raya dinner.
He added that the bazaar is an example of how WGS, a social and cultural heritage hub, has succeeded in creating a unique cultural identity for the area.
“The bazaar was visited by Singaporeans of all races, who had come to enjoy the food and festive merchandise,” Mr Wong noted.
“WGS worked closely with the bazaar operators to curate the stalls and came up with various performance and activities to supplement the bazaar and offered a full experience to the visitors.”
Of the 500 stalls this year, 60 per cent of food stalls and 80 per cent of non-food stalls focused on traditional Malay items.
(Photos: Joyee Koo)
For the first time, all food stalls had to be either Muslim-owned or certified halal by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) following feedback from the previous year.
Organisers also revised the guidelines to include a rental cap of S$14,000 per stall.
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In his speech on Saturday, Mr Wong said that a liveable city is not just about the buildings or getting the business infrastructure right.
“It is about building a city with strong culture, heritage and roots, with people at the centre,” he said. “Only then will we have a global city that is distinctively Singaporean, a place that we can all call home.”
Mr Wong called on the community to continue to support the Geylang Serai precinct development, a project helmed by Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman.
Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong and their wives at the Wisma Geylang Serai Hari Raya Dinner on Jun 22, 2019. (Photo: Hazlina Abdul Halim)
Dr Maliki said that WGS has had many requests from organisations to utilise the premises, contributing to the steady increase of footfall there.
He added that from January to April this year, more than 105,000 visitors from all races have visited WGS since it was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Jan 26.
For the second half of the year, Dr Maliki said WGS has plans for a nostalgic Satay Club Bazaar, as well as a Bicentennial National Day @ Heartlands exhibition in August, where mobile columns from the Singapore Armed Forces and Home Team will be on display.
