'Pasar Bisik', a market different from the rest

KUALA MUDA: A fish market is normally loud and boisterous but there is one along the Penang-Kedah border which is quiet as buyers and sellers whisper to each other when haggling over prices.

Known colloquially as "Pasir Bisik" (whispering market), the market is where those in the know can get some of the freshest fish in Penang.

There, regulars and traders do not raise their voices when discussing the price of fish, they instead whisper to each other.

Usually, a buyer will whisper the price to the seller and another buyer will whisper the price until the product is sold to the highest bidder.

Fishmonger Chow Chew Huat, 55, said this was how business was conducted in the market ever since his grandfather started selling fish there.

"This (whispering) has been going on for a long time," he said, adding that the market was popular for fresh prawns.

He said the market was an open secret as people from as far away as Perlis and Johor regularly made the trip to get their hands on fresh seafood.

Despite the quiet whispering, visitors should not expect prices for fresh seafood to be cheap as fisherman Rosli Ahmad, 45, noted prices for prawns can be as high as RM100 per kg depending on availability.

High prices however did not deter Ahmad Yatim Baharom, 64, from visiting the market regularly to get his seafood.

"I want the freshest fish I can find," the former army man said.

Meanwhile, Penang History and Heritage Association secretary Dahalan Fadzil said the market got its name from how business was conducted, by whispering.

He noted that it was the only place in the country selling seafood where patrons whispered to traders when purchasing.

"This has been the way of doing business in Kuala Muda and the nearby region for a long time," he told theSun when contacted.