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By Mihar Dias October 2025
It takes a special kind of genius to build stalls that nobody wants. On my recent walk through Kubota township in Tawau, I came across a row of them—neat, shiny, and utterly deserted. Not a hawker, not a customer, not even a stray cat looking for leftovers. FMT
These are, of course, part of the “designer stall” projects closely associated with YB Nga Kor Ming. They come with solar panels, hydraulic windows, and stainless-steel fittings. The only thing missing? Hawkers. FMT
This is what happens when urban planning is done from the comfort of Putrajaya air-conditioning.
Someone draws a fancy kiosk on paper, slaps a RM25,000 price tag on it, and calls it “empowering the rakyat.”FMT
Meanwhile, the rakyat looks at the rent, the location, the total absence of foot traffic, and says: “No, thank you.”
Let’s be honest: moving hawkers to this corner of Kubota is like telling fishermen to cast their nets in a swimming pool. Beautiful structure, wrong location. It’s not rocket science. People sell food where people are hungry—Pasar Tanjung, Sabindo, roadside stretches full of life. Not in a township where the loudest sound is grass growing.
Defenders of the project will point to occupancy rates above 80%. Numbers are funny things. You can call it “occupied” if a hawker puts his name on the paper.
But come by at lunchtime, and you’ll find silence, empty counters, and zero business. Occupancy on paper, emptiness in reality.
Then there’s the cost. RM25,000 for a kiosk? That’s enough to buy a second-hand Perodua Bezza and actually go where the customers are. Hawkers don’t need hydraulic windows. They need affordable rent and foot traffic. Stainless steel is useless if sales are rusty.
The real white elephant here isn’t the kiosk itself—it’s the thinking behind it. Who in their right mind approves projects without proper feasibility studies?
Who thought hawkers would magically abandon busy, proven locations to settle in Kubota just because the kiosks look shiny?
Did anyone even bother asking the hawkers themselves?
What we are left with is a parade of gleaming red-and-white boxes, monuments to poor planning, ready for ribbon-cutting photos but not for real life.
So here’s my humble suggestion: before building any more “designer” stalls, let’s try a cheaper alternative. Grab a plastic table, set it up where people actually walk, and sell some nasi lemak. If customers come, then build your kiosk. If not, save the RM25,000 and call it a lesson learned.
Because right now, Tawau’s Kubota stalls are not empowering hawkers. They’re empowering only one thing: mosquitoes, enjoying the shade of expensive, empty kiosks.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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