THE Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has shelved a plan to add 94 new stalls at Petaling Street following strong objections from traders who find it increasingly difficult to do business in the area.
"We need to study the matter further," mayor Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan told StarMetro, adding that the decision was made after a meeting between City Hall and the Federal Territories Ministry.
This latest development should ease criticisms from all corners, but the issue has re-ignited a pertinent question that many have been asking in recent years: "Has Petaling Street lost its lustre?"
A bright yellow banner with the Pengasih logo hung under the blue canopy, and yellow lines indicating new lot placements now seem to be reminders of Petaling Street's precarious Chinatown identity.
While the aroma of roast chestnut and the grease of roast duck still linger in the air, those who call out to tourists to come closer to their stalls selling only imitations are no longer Chinese.
This is an unhealthy situation to many Malaysians who feel that Petaling Street is our tourist destination as well as a Chinese hub where cultures, customs and cuisine are kept authentic.
"I witnessed the deterioration of Chinatown," said businessman Khong Kim Lyew, 60, whose family has been living in the area for almost 100 years.
"There are too many stalls, whenever there's a slight commotion it threatens to end up in a stampede, I cannot imagine what happens if another 94 stalls are to squeeze in," he groused.
"The influx of foreign workers is causing this area to lose its identity," he added.
Traffic congestion, chaotic order, unappealing appearance mainly caused by the dysfunctional and badly maintained canopies are other problems plaguing Chinatown according to Khong, who thinks all these stem from corruption.
However, to the traders, they have no choice but to employ foreign workers to man their stalls as the locals shun such tiring jobs or they ask for a high salary.
The traders are becoming fine with that, too. "This is happening in many parts of the world, even five-star hotels employ foreign workers, it is inevitable," said Chan Kwok Chin, 56, who runs a famous bakery here.
Then, illegal traders who are foreign immigrants will invade the pockets of unoccupied sites when night falls. City Hall's enforcement officers are deployed to tackle that. War zone is the word used by witnesses to describe the scene when the illegal traders run helter skelter as the enforcement officers shouted and chased after them. This has obviously turned tourists away and made Petaling Street infamous for a new reason.
Adding to that, the newer generations supposedly tasked with upholding the Chinatown identity have chosen to leave.
Melvin Chan, 27, is one of the handful of the pioneers' descendants who are willing to take over the business from their great grandfathers.
"Most of my childhood friends have opted to venture out and earn money in a much easier way - fixed salary, annual leave, 9am to 5pm working hours," he said.
Vivian Wong manages her porridge stall after it was passed down by her father who died suddenly in 1993.
However, Wong, who is in her 30s now said she had no regrets taking over her father's spot after her Form Six education.
"It is a really tough job manning a stall like mine, but it makes me happy listening to customers relating their first visit to my stall when my father was still around and how they are now bringing their own children to taste the porridge," said Wong who wakes up 2am daily to prepare ingredients for her stall which opens at 4am.
So, do the traders fear losing Chinatown's very own tradition thus losing its appeal that draws tourists from around the world? No.
"It is already famous internationally," said Melvin, who planned to franchise his great grandfather's noodle shop. "I am sure this place will continue to flourish so long as we manage it properly while preserving the Chinese elements here."
Kwok Chin is optimistic, too. "The younger generations will move out, this is normal, but there will still be people doing the job as long as this is a place where businesses thrive," he said.
Former Bukit Bintang MP Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said Petaling Street was still a crowd puller.
"Chinatown may have changed over the years but it is most often for the better," said Lee, who admitted that he had not been there for some time.
Nevertheless, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun acknowledged Chinatown's fading legacy and was determined to preserve this heritage by bringing up the issues at the Parliament and Budget 2009 debates.
Stopping the inclusion of 94 stalls was one move to prevent it from becoming just another pasar malam, and City Hall should also reduce assessment and quit rent to lessen the traders' burden to reduce their dependence on foreign workers, he said.
"If they can make money here, the locals will come back and they will stay," he remarked.
He added that City Hall should improve on the area's maintenance since they had been collecting a rental of RM100 to RM300 per stall every month.
