IN the last couple of months, the flea market at Sungei Road has emerged as the new haven for hawkers of illegal video discs.

And many of them still hawk their stuff despite repeated police action, including a raid which took place on Wednesday.

The flea market is known as the Thieves' Market. But for some, it may as well be called the pirates' market.

When the The New Paper on Sunday visited the area a day before the raid, at least six vendors were spotted selling pirated DVDs.

Two were selling pirated movies while the other four were peddling pornography.

'One for five dollars! One for five dollars!' one vendor, a man in his 40s, said in Mandarin to anyone who cared to stop and look.

Dressed in a polo T-shirt, shorts and slippers, the man, with a tattoo on his chest, was sitting by a colourful 1m by 1m piece of cloth spread on the ground.

His offerings included some of the latest movies, as well as popular English and Mandarin classics.

Kung Fu Panda, The Bank Job, Red Cliff, Iron Man, You Don't Mess With The Zohan... you name it, these movies and more were on sale.

Less than 20m from his makeshift outlet, four other hawkers were selling pornographic movies.

All men in their 20s, a couple with baseball caps on, had chosen a prime location - the junction of Pasar Lane and Pitt Lane through which most shoppers pass.

Nothing about their business was discreet - from the pictures of nude women on the discs' covers to their marketing pitch.

'Everything new! Everything new! China! Japan! US!' they shouted to passers-by.

They attracted more customers than those selling blockbuster movies. Men of all ages took their pick.

At one point, over 10 customers were browsing through the titles.

One customer, a middle-aged man holding an umbrella and newspapers, bought about six discs.

He then hurried off with a small, black plastic bag which contained the discs.

A careful observation of the operations revealed more.

A man in his 50s, loitering around the area, appeared to be watching over the stalls.

He was spotted walking away once from the area in the direction of the nearby Kelantan Road, only to return with a plastic bag full of neatly stacked discs.

He handed the bag to a vendor, who, after a while, added them to the discs already on display.

The two did not exchange a word.

'NONE OF MY BUSINESS'

The Thieves' Market has been around for decades, and is a favourite haunt among people looking for a bargain.

Open daily after 1pm, the market features about 200 vendors selling mostly second-hand goods, such as books, magazines, electrical appliances, clothes, and bric-a-brac.

One man, in his 40s, who sold old shoes just 10m away from those selling pornographic discs, waved us away, saying: 'It's none of my business.'

Shoppers were more willing to talk.

A 42-year-old project manager, who wants to be known only as Mr Feroz, said while he had noticed some of these vendors selling illegal discs, they have become more blatant over time, setting up many stalls at once.

Another frequent patron, Mr Wong, 40, said he also noticed that the number of illegal disc hawkers had increased over the past few months.

When contacted, the police said they were aware of the illegal activity at the market, and 'have been conducting frequent enforcement actions' there.

The police said they arrested three Bangladeshi men for possession and distribution of uncensored pornographic material, and seized 300 discs. If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of three months' imprisonment, or fine, or both.

When we visited the market again, a day after the raid, the illegal vendors were back.

A police spokesmen told The New Paper on Sunday: 'We'll need the cooperation and support of the public in our fight against piracy and other related illegal activities.

'The public is advised to refrain from supporting such illegal activities and to call us at 999 if they come across them.'

This story was first published in The New Paper on 27 July 2008.