During Lunar New Year celebrations, vendors are selling sky lanterns, joss papers, incense sticks, cards, firecrackers and miniature houses along the sides of roads to mark the holiday.
Srey Oun, a vendor in Tuol Sangke I commune of Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district, said she had sold plenty of fruits for the holiday already.
“Today [January 21] seemed a bit quiet. Yesterday, people jostled to buy my fruits and vegetables to make offerings,” she said.
However, she said fruits had increased a bit in price these past few days as the supply was low and she had transported a lot of fruits and vegetables and spent a lot on gasoline.
“The most popular oranges have risen to 15,000 riel per kilogramme, but usually we sell it for only 11,000 riel per kg. The customers asked me about this increased price, but what can I do? I also bought it at a high price,” she stated.
However, she said she was able to sell more fruits and vegetables than she did last year, but she had started selling them for two or three days ahead of the holiday.
Kim Lang, another vendor who sells sky lanterns, incense and candles, said she was able to sell the items quite well but not really more than in previous years.
“Like every year, the sky lanterns and joss papers are the items that people of Chinese descent could not refuse to buy. They buy them every year out of belief that the items will bring them fortune and good luck to enrich their family members in the new year. So I don’t worry much about not selling them,” she said.
