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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Stale air at Chinatown market
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HIGHLIGHTED almost one year ago the plight of dry provision and fruit stallholders in one section of the upgraded basement wet market of Chinatown Complex ('Upgraded Chinatown market felt like a furnace'; May 24, 2008).
Back then, they had to endure a hot and humid working environment. The National Environment Agency then graciously took some mitigating measures, such as installing additional fans and partitioning the central freezer area.
However, whenever I patronise the stalls in that area, the vendors complain about the bad and unhealthy air quality. Some developed quite severe skin problems that required them to see the doctor.
Last Sunday afternoon, while I was there doing my marketing, I had a first-hand experience of how stifling and suffocating the stale air there is. When I got up to the ground floor via the nearby staircase, it was a world of difference - the air was refreshingly cool as it was raining heavily.
When I was down at the basement market, I had no inkling it was raining. Not an iota of cool air penetrated the fortress-like basement market.
My heart goes out to the poor vendors who must endure long hours in such a horrible working environment. Julie Chia (Ms)
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HIGHLIGHTED almost one year ago the plight of dry provision and fruit stallholders in one section of the upgraded basement wet market of Chinatown Complex ('Upgraded Chinatown market felt like a furnace'; May 24, 2008).
Back then, they had to endure a hot and humid working environment. The National Environment Agency then graciously took some mitigating measures, such as installing additional fans and partitioning the central freezer area.
However, whenever I patronise the stalls in that area, the vendors complain about the bad and unhealthy air quality. Some developed quite severe skin problems that required them to see the doctor.
Last Sunday afternoon, while I was there doing my marketing, I had a first-hand experience of how stifling and suffocating the stale air there is. When I got up to the ground floor via the nearby staircase, it was a world of difference - the air was refreshingly cool as it was raining heavily.
When I was down at the basement market, I had no inkling it was raining. Not an iota of cool air penetrated the fortress-like basement market.
My heart goes out to the poor vendors who must endure long hours in such a horrible working environment. Julie Chia (Ms)