Pekan Rabu, Alor Setar

Pekan Rabu is a local bazaar in Alor Setar, Kedah. It is located in the heart of the city. The two-storey complex houses over four hundred traders selling local products from textile and clothing to local delicacies such as dodol.

The name means "Wednesday Market" because it began as a weekly market in the early part of the 20th century. It was started at the initiative of Tunku Yaakob, a local prince, who established a weekly market at Tanjung Chali, between Pekan Cina and Pengkalan Kapal.

The weekly Pekan Rabu was such a success with the locals that it evolved into a daily market. In 1932, the state government relocated Pekan Rabu to its present site. At that time, it was just a collection of makeshift structures.

Times were hard during the Japanese Occupation. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister, was then a young man in Alor Setar. His studies interrupted by the war, he was forced to make a living as a fruit seller at Pekan Rabu. Those years as a seller at Pekan Rabu was not forgotten, and he continued to visit Pekan Rabu over the years.

In 1975, a new market structure was erected at a cost of RM3.2 million. The traders moved in on 25 February, 1978. It underwent renovation at a cost of RM6.5 million in 1995. Lately there were plans to further expand on Pekan Rabu but nothing has yet materialised.

Pekan Rabu is a regular Malay bazaar. For visitors and tourists, it is an interesting place to look at the local products and stalls.

Back to Discover Alor Setar mainpage; list of Shopping Malls in Alor Setar

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.