THE newly upgraded Taman Selera Muhibbah food court is part of a plan to rejuvenate Pelawan township in Sibu.
“During the state election in 2021, my slogan was ‘New Pelawan’.
“I was excited when the plan to rebuild the food court was made as this brought something fresh to the township,” said Pelawan assemblyman Michael Tiang.
Speaking at the opening of the upgraded food court, he said he and Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Clarence Ting went to Singapore to learn how the republic managed their hawker centres.
“We went there to observe and learn. Later, Ting brought a council team to Singapore to gather input on how they were able to run their hawker centres in an efficient and hygienic way,” said Tiang.
Following this visit, SMC came up with a new design for Taman Selera Muhibbah, which is more open and airy.
“We transformed it into a foodie joint in Sibu that provides a variety of popular items.
“This food court is now operating on a self-service concept where customers have to collect their food and after eating, return the crockery and cutlery to the particular stall,” said Tiang, who is also Sarawak Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II.
He said the Taman Selera Muhibbah food court would soon provide free WiFi and have CCTV cameras.
“I am providing a grant of RM50,000 for the installation of CCTV.
“The council is also proposing to fix a big-screen TV here to show live broadcast of sports events. I will try to chip in some money for this,” he added.
With the new look, Tiang is confident that the food court will be able to attract more visitors to the town.
Meanwhile, Ting said the food court was upgraded at a cost of RM3.83mil.
“The hawkers here were previously from the old Lembangan Market. But it was burned down in 1990. They were then sent to the market near Palace Theatre.
“The late Datuk Robert Lau, who was the then SMC chairman, moved the hawkers to this place,” said Ting.
He added that business was good at the refurbished food court since its soft opening on March 2.
