SINGAPORE: Two dollars for five strands! Two dollars for five strands! The sales pitch is heard as soon as one walks into Hall 6 of the Expo Building here in conjunction with the four-day Malaysia Fest 2019, which kicked off on Thursday.
For this year’s edition, the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) brought in 10,000 strands of petai (bitter bean) under the Direct Sales from Farm (JTDL).
Bernama understands the first shipment was only 4,000 strands of petai but due to the encouraging response the number was increased to 10,000.
The stands were specially flown in from Perak, where petai is a well-known commodity in the northern state in the peninsula.
At the festival which showcases the best of Malaysia through food products, and cultural performances, some visitors were heard asking about the King of Fruits (durian) at the petai booth.
“Durians finished… Can bring in more for tomorrow?”
The disappointment was clearly seen on their faces when they were told that durians were a prohibited item at the Fest by the Singaporean authorities.
Fama had tried very hard highly to bring in the highly popular Musang King and homegrown durians from Bukit Gantang but the ban was imposed due to their pungent smell.
The expo which is targeting 90,000 visitors is open from 10 am to 10pm.
The petai booth is among the 233 booths there.
The products are divided into seven clusters namely beauty and fashion, popular foods, celebrity brands, food and fruits, food trucks, tourism, and services.
Various states, ministries, and agencies are participating in the expo. – Bernama
