COMMENT | At the height of the movement control order following the outbreak of Covid-19, the Petaling Jaya City Council closed the wet market indefinitely.

With a view to reopening after the casualty numbers dropped, the council called for a meeting of all stallholders to brief them on hygiene and cleanliness requirements.

Among those who attended were a few who had never stepped into the market but were licensees, hence their presence.

They were the “Pajak Kings” who had leased their licences to third parties, including migrants, and collected a princely sum in rentals every month.