
''Pasar malam'' ( nl, Nacht Markt or Avondmarkt) is an
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesia ...
and
Malay word that literally means "
night market
Night markets or night bazaars are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets. They are typically open-air markets popular in East Asia, So ...
" (the word comes from ''
bazaar'' in
Persian). A ''pasar malam'' is a
street market
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
that opens in the evening, usually in residential neighbourhoods.
It brings together a collection of stalls that usually sell goods such as
snack
A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.
Traditionally, snacks are ...
s, local favourite dishes,
fruits
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particul ...
, clothes, shoes, toys, balloons, watch and alarm clocks, knick-knacks and ornaments at cheap or at least reasonable prices. Unauthorized copies of DVDs, CDs and computer software are often sold at a pasar malam.
Pasar malam might resemble a night festival or a
fairground, where fair games and kiddy rides, like mini
carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in SA) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular pla ...
or mini train ride may also present. Several quintessential fair snacks like
cotton candy
Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss and candy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring.
It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centri ...
,
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
,
hot dog
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...
s and grilled sausages are also popular, next to the offerings of traditional local delicacies. A pasar malam often takes place only one to a few days of the week, as the traders rotate around different neighbourhoods on different days of the week.
Haggling over prices is a common practice at such markets.
History

In Indonesian archipelago, markets are traditionally held on different days with locations rotating among participating villages. This traditional economic custom is known as ''Hari Pasaran'' (lit. "market days") in
Javanese. After being further developed, market was established more permanently like it is today. The night market is regarded as the continuation of this non-permanent market culture. Night market are usually held during special occasion or festival, such as
Sekaten festival in Java, or held in
Ramadhan nights, approximately a week before
Lebaran
is the popular name for two Islamic official holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in Indonesia, and is one of the major national holidays in the country. holiday officially lasts for two days in the Indonesian calendar, although the governme ...
.
Among traditional night markets, one of the earliest and biggest was the annual
Lunar New Year night market in
Batavia, capital of the
Dutch East Indies.
Held three days prior to Lunar New Year, this night market began in the late 1820s as an initiative of
Tan Eng Goan, the 1st ''Majoor der Chineezen'' of Batavia, and became a prototype for similar night markets.
After the discovery of electricity and
lightbulb, night markets were held more frequently in colonial Dutch East Indies in early 20th century. The most notable one is
Pasar Gambir, a night market fair held in 1906 and yearly from 1921 until the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in 1942, in the Koningsplein, Batavia,
Dutch East Indies (now
Merdeka Square, Jakarta, Indonesia) to celebrate the birthday of
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. It has become the predecessor of the annual
Jakarta Fair and
Den Haag's
Tong Tong Fair which are actually a night market and festival held for several weeks.
Indonesia

In
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
, especially in the
Javanese royal cities
Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...
and
Surakarta
Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and ...
, the grand week-long pasar malam is usually held annually during the
Sekaten festival to celebrate
Mawlid
Mawlid, Mawlid an-Nabi ash-Sharif or Eid Milad un Nabi ( ar, المولد النبوي, translit=mawlid an-nabawī, lit=Birth of the Prophet, sometimes simply called in colloquial Arabic , , among other vernacular pronunciations; sometimes , ) ...
or the birthday of prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...
. During colonial
Dutch East Indies the annual Pasar Malam was held in
Pasar Gambir (today
Merdeka square) and become the predecessor of modern
Jakarta's annual
Jakarta Fair.
Today, several ''
kecamatan'' (district) in Jakarta and also other provinces in Indonesia, hold weekly pasar malam, usually every Saturday night in a nearby ''
alun-alun'' square, open fields or marketplaces. In Indonesia, pasar malam has become a weekly recreational place for local families. Other than selling variety of goods and foods, some pasar malam also offer kiddy rides and carnival games, such as mini
carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in SA) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular pla ...
or mini train ride. In
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palemban ...
, a popular pasar malam is located on front of Kuto Besak Fort on the bank of
Musi River Musi may refer to:
* Musi River (Indonesia)
* Musi River (India), Telangana
* Moosy River, Andhra Pradesh, India
* Musi language, a Malay language spoken in Indonesia
* Angelo Musi (1918–2009), American basketball player
* Agostino de' Musi, real ...
. This pasar malam sells local dishes and snacks such as
pempek, lenggang and tekwan, and also offers souvenirs and handy crafts.
Malaysia

In Malaysia, Pasar Malam are normally setup at temporary closed street for vehicle and open for pedestrian during evening until late night on weekly basis. At certain location due to frequency or few time in a week, narrow and busy street also safety reasons, Pasar Malam will open at Tapak Pasar Malam on nighttime which describe an allocation space that convert a parking space during a daytime.
Due to the hot Malaysian weather during the daytime, the Pasar Malam has become a nightlife activity that attracts local community after working time and tourist crowd to shop with moderate night temperatures looking for cheap hot foods, clothing, groceries, etc. The vendor licenses are obtained from local authorities under the local council area.
Majority of the local vendor selling plenty type of drinks, hot foods and local delicacies from Malay, Malaysian Chinese and Indian background which are famous and also the difficult to find, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and seafoods, fresh meat and poultry, toys, family range of clothes and accessories. Some local vendor also selling a live pets or even a phone accessories.
Singapore
In Singapore, food hawkers at pasar malams are required to get a licence from local council to ensure health, cleanliness and to control numbers to avoid traffic congestion. Food handlers are required to get a medical checkup and Typhim VI vaccinations. The pasar malam site is allocated by the local council.
The Netherlands

In the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, a yearly
Indo Eurasian festival is held in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
under the name ''
Tong Tong Fair'', formerly known as the ''Pasar Malam Besar'' (''besar'' meaning "big"). Due to the high number of Indo-Eurasians and the successive success of this event since 1959, dozens of pasar malam are held each year in the Netherlands. Recently the Indonesian embassy has started sponsoring a yearly "pasar malam Indonesia", mainly to promote Indonesian business and enhance Dutch-Indonesian relations.
[The Netherlands has the largest number of pasar malam outside Asia.]
See also
*
Bazaar
*
Hawker centre, open-air complexes in Malaysia and Singapore housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food
* ''
Kopi tiam'', literally a "coffee shop"
*
Market (place)
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
* ''
Pasar pagi'', (morning market)
* Retail
*
Wet market
*
Farmers' market
A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors o ...
References
{{reflist
External links
MyPasarMalam – Malaysia pasar Malam directoryPasar malam businessPasar Malam SG
Indonesian culture
Malaysian culture
Singaporean culture
Night markets
Malay words and phrases
Retailing in Indonesia
Retailing in Malaysia