Chou showing the China bamboo leaves and the local kind.
KOTA KINABALU: Sale of bamboo leaves for wrapping zong zi, or sticky rice dumplings, has dropped 10 per cent compared to the year before due to less patrons at the Kota Kinabalu central market following the enforcement of the Movement Control Order 3.0 (MCO 3.0) and tighter cross-district ban.
Chou Lee Ven, a hawker at the Central Market, said the price of China-imported bamboo leaves had increased by around 10 per cent due to higher shipping costs.
Duan Wu Festival, also known as Dragon Boat Festival, falls on June 14 this year.
He said Chinese families have started buying bamboo leaves to make sticky rice dumplings to celebrate the festival.
However, he said the MCO 3.0 and intensified roadblocks to prevent cross-district travels, particularly banning vehicles from Telipok, Kepayan and Penampang from entering Kota Kinabalu, had affected businesses at the central market.
“Many customers living outside of Kota Kinabalu are not able to come to the central market to shop for groceries.
“Hawkers here are seeing a significant drop in our businesses.”
Chou said many Chinese families practise the tradition of making sticky rice dumplings before Duan Wu Festival and many have turned to social media to sell their homemade rice dumplings during the MCO period.
He added that the bamboo leaves available in the market were mainly imported from China or produced locally.
He said the bamboo leaves from China were larger in size, which made it easier and faster to wrap the glutinous rice.
“Bamboo leaves from China cost about RM32 to RM36 per kilogramme, which is 10 per cent higher than the year before.”
He said mass producers preferred China-imported bamboo leaves while families would usually opt for local bamboo leaves.