SOME 25 years ago, mobile hawkers and petty traders in the Kinta Valley were a disorganised bunch, plying their trade at street corners or any empty space they could find.
It earned them accusations that their businesses were causing traffic jams, and complaints from shoplot owners of hawkers parking themselves in front of their premises.
Acting on these complaints, the local authorities introduced policies around 1986 meant to cut down on the number of street hawkers as they were considered ‘a nuisance’.
Auspicious event: Ka Chuan (third left) cutting the ribbon to open the new rented premises of the Kinta Mobile Petty Traders Association.It was only when Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, then a Perak state executive councillor, stepped in that the authorities softened their stance on the traders.
Ong had urged the traders to band together and register themselves as a society, then negotiated for the council to approve business licences for trading at specially designated areas.
Kinta Mobile Petty Traders Association chairman Tan He Chuang said had it not been for Ong, their association would never have existed.
“That’s why our members will always remember him for helping us during those difficult times.
“Back then, it was so hard for us to earn a living and he showed us how to organise ourselves. Because of him, we could get licences to trade,” said Tan.
Today the association is 1,400 member strong and Ong remains its honorary adviser. To commemorate his efforts, the association invited him to open its new rented premises at First Garden in Ipoh on Sunday.
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