Southeast Asian Market delays March opening as it prepares to elect its first board

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Fans of the seasonal Southeast Asian Market in FDR Park got a scare when organizers announced a postponement of its spring opening on social media . However, they say it’s only so the market can grow as the staple it’s become over the last few years.

March 30 was the planned first day for the Southeast Asian Market , but a delay was necessary so its organizers could plan big for its future. The market is in the process of electing its first board — a move those involved in the process say will give the market and its community the voice and power it needs long into its planned future.

“We’re doing our due diligence so that we are creating a good foundation, transparent understanding, and understanding how to best hear the vending association members, meaning the members themselves’ voices of what they want to see happen,” said Sarun Chan, executive director of the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia , one of the organizations helping the vendor association behind the market organize the elections.

“We’re working on a process, how that looks like, how nominations look like, on the day of elections, how the voting process will look like.”

Chan said the new board would have anywhere from seven to nine members and be representative of all the communities present at the market.

“We’re also working with an effort to make sure that the board is representative of the vendoring community themselves,” he said, “understanding that there is a large portion of Cambodian community members that are part of this market. We want to make sure that the Laotian, Thai, Viet and Indonesian vendors that have been part of this process [are] also represented as well.”

Having a board is a big step as the vending association moves to become its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, according to Chan, and gives them new stock with city government.

“Stability and sustainability is required. If we want this to become an established institution such as the Italian Market or Chinatown, we need these things in place,” said Chan.

“It shows the city that we’re serious about making sure that we have a permanent home. It’s not just a bunch of random people gathered together.”

As for the market’s opening weekend, Chan hopes it will be sometime in April, but the first weekend in May is the ultimate deadline.