GEORGE TOWN, June 30 -- Air Itam township spreads out from the iconic Air Itam Market which is always bustling with activities from as early as 5am.

But by the time the streetlights are turned on, the narrow streets winding through the mix of kampung houses and shophouses are quiet with barely any traffic or people around.

Many of the shops, even hawkers who used to operate until 3am, close by 8pm, or the latest 9pm, and the township becomes a quiet ghost town.

"There would be activities around the market even at night but after the pandemic, everything changed," Air Itam assemblyman Joseph Ng Soon Siang said at a recent press conference on "Discover Air Itam".

He said even the famed Air Itam duck rice, which is listed in the Michelin...