The Sisterhood of Siti Khadijah

Dedicated to my Mother, to whom I owe my Life, and whose Unconditional Love I have more Oft more than not Failed to Appreciate. Thank you, Ma.

Pasar Siti Khadijah, or Siti Khadijah Market is located in the heart of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. Three storeys tall, the market's foundation was laid by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a renowned Malaysia politician and a blue-blooded Kelantanese royalty himself. The ground floor of the market is a wet market teeming with vendors of fresh farm produces such as meat, seafood, and vegetables. The lady shown in the photograph below, despite knowing that I was on holiday junket from Kuala Lumpur, kept up a barrage of sales pitch to me extolling the virtues of 'ayam kampung'. 'Ayam kampung', literally translated as village chicken, features lean meat and therefore a healthier alternative to mass-produced farm raised poultry.

My wanderings within the market took me an annexe whereby finger food and other edibles are sold. The most noticeable aspect of this market is that it is dominated by Kelantanese women. The men mainly avail themselves to the butchery section of the market, where muscle power and perhaps a lack of aversion to blood, creates a niche for themselves.

The Siti Khadijah Market, officially opened in 1985, was named after the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), a shrewd and enterprising businesswoman herself. Is it also named as such to honor the fact that, with exceptions such as those operating in the butchery section or performing manual labor, the many enterprising souls of the market are women. One of them, obliging for a pose as seen below, permitted me to sample fish and chicken 'serunding', a type of dried meat floss. 'Serunding', appearing below in small mounds to the right, goes down well with rice or bread.

None of the sellers of the market make, farm, or produce any of the goods sold within the market. As told by the lady in blue featured above, "Disini kami cuma timbang dan jual sahaja", that is after buying from external parties, they then "...only weight and sell". The two women shown in the above two photographs, are located on the second floor of the market. This floor is in essence a dry market whereby dry, preserved, and packaged goods are available. Spices of all kind, from pepper to cinnamon, are also available.

The third floor of the market is a boutique whereby apparel and bolts of cloth are on display for sale. From silk to cotton, one can obtain cloths of all persuasion, design, and colors. 'Batik' is available as well. The two photographs below shows two of the many women, obliging for a pose, engaging in their trade on the third floor.

Lest one is given the impression that the Kelantanese menfolk is either unenterprising or indolent, it is a well known fact that many Kelantanese men go out 'bertualang', that is many of them seek and obtain more lucrative employment out of the state of Kelantan itself. Kelantanese women, forced by economic necessity and a need to be less dependent upon their menfolk's remittances, have become professional entrepreneurs. This has, in the description of one Malaysian blogger, enabled the state government to thumb its nose at the federal government, both respectively at the opposite end of the political spectrum, for more than 18 years despite the fact that state funding by the federal government has been more or less constricted.