After two decades of lifting, scaling and chopping fish, Madam Harikrishnan Uma is impervious to the stench that lingers on her after a hard day’s work.
The 49-year-old single mother runs a fishmonger stall that she opened with her ex-husband in 2003.
Her 14-hour day begins at 4am when she drives her lorry to the Jurong Fishery Port, where she bargains with fish sellers in Malay over fish, prawn, crab, squid and the like.
She steps into her black rubber boots and slips on her white gloves as soon as her stall opens for business at 8am. She closes shop at 4pm – a process which takes up to two hours – before she returns home to rest her feet.
Throughout it all, Madam Uma is not hard to spot at the busy wet market in Tekka. Though there are a number of Indian women manning vegetable stalls and what not, at the meat, poultry and seafood sections, she stands out as a rarity.
“This job requires both physical and mental strength,” Madam Uma told tabla! “It might not be an attractive career option for most women due to the stench and difficulties, but to me, it does not matter because if I forgo this business, there’s no one else to take over”.
Back when she first started her trade, it took almost a year to master the grind.
“It took me a long time to pick up the skill of cleaning and slicing the fish. I faced many customer complaints about it at the start, but over time things got better,” she said.
“I’ve had cuts on my fingers; they have swelled up and there’s been irritation, but this is all part of the job, isn’t it?” the mother of two added.
Madam Uma shared that she and her ex-husband initially wanted to open a food stall when they planned to run a business together 21 years ago. But due to high rental costs, they opted for a fishmonger stall instead.
After their divorce, her oldest daughter, 29, began helping out at the stall. She has been doing so for the past decade.
“While nobody in this day and age shows interest in working in this sector, I am happy she has been a pillar of support for me. She can even cut and clean a shark,” Madam Uma said.
Business in recent years has been saliently affected by the pandemic and changing trends. “These days, not many people cook at home. They tend to eat out or order in, and everything has been digitalised,” Madam Uma said.
Aside from those concerns, she also has to deal with her daughter leaving the stall to pursue her education.
“I am really uncertain about the future of the stall, but I will continue running it as long as I can.”
