Asian Night Market
Malacca
Jonker Walk Heritage Market
I hesitate to say that in 2016, I covered the Jonker Walk night bazaar in a short essay, dubiously titled Oriental Night Bazaar (Oh the shame, what was I thinking?!?!). Rest assured, no copy of this atrocity exists anymore except in my private hard drive imprisoned in the purgatory of a hidden folder within hidden folders. Let's move on. As 2020 dawns, with the time so close to Chinese New Year I figured this street will be a prime spot to indulge the visual aporia of nostalgia and the contemporary.
Five years after my initial write-up, it appears the atmosphere and dynamics of the local and tourist in this small bustling street retain, albeit with minor echoes of fashionable modernity. It is a surreal feeling, for I had the privilege of visiting multiple street bazaars in the world between this five years gap, yet when I return to the spot of my childhood, suddenly the familiarity is lost; the scenes had been rearranged, repainted, like a repurposed mosaic. “Where did the journey takes you, dear Bilbo?”
“There and…” …not so back again.
