Malls, household debts and bankruptcy?

Would you get someone who dislikes golf but likes badminton to write about golf? I think majority of everyone would answer, of course not. Well, read on then. In an article of a few hundred words and published in a local free English daily, one writer wrote negatively about malls. Actually, right from the start, I think he has already lost the plot. He admitted that he only shop online. Huh? The writer said he shops online, seldom go to malls, hate malls and even mentioned that everyone visits malls BUT its always the same stores and the same prices. My advice? Please, visit malls more often before you (the established writer) rewrite your article. Yes, there are definitely similar shops but if you have really shopped, you would notice there are still clear differences!
He proceded to say that he does not meant to be negative about new malls but Standard & Poor’s August report stated that household debts are rising faster than their incomes. Come on, this is happening already even before all these malls have opened. Why link those who are foolish with their money matters with opening of malls which were actually welcomed by many in the first place? I can safely say I hate to queue for one hour just to find a parking in one of the largest malls in Klang Valley. I call that ‘total waste of time.’ Also, it would be utterly foolish for one to visit the exact same malls every weekend for one whole year…..
Next he said that in 2014, there were 5,547 individuals below age of 35 who were declared bankrupt and that this number has doubled when compared to 2005. Wow, the number has doubled after 9 years? We are supposed to blame this on the opening of more malls? HUH?
He then said ‘with the economy being what it is.’ Next time, explain this. Do you meant we are in a recession? Crisis? VERY slow growth? Huge unemployment? What? Sorry, even if 2015 GDP growth comes in at 4.5 percent, this is definitely considered well above average versus the world no matter where you look.
Yes, he did say a good thing about malls? It creates job opportunities. One line. Then, he restarted the ‘bad parking,’ and ‘traffic woes,’ in the neighbourhood where the mall is. My advice? There are many malls which offer low parking rates, some even provide free parking rates for a certain period of time. This is my advice to him because I think he does not know. He said we could not afford ice-creams in the current economic situation. I seriously hope the writer is NOT using an iPhone or a Samsung because it would be so lame when compared to eating ice-cream in a mall.
My only tiny little advise to the writer is, visit malls first before you write about them. Understand also why more malls were built as well, I mean do read a bit on property development trends. Shopping online is great, cool and whatever but it DOES NOT beat touching the fabric, it DOES NOT give you opportunity to bargain with the shop owner, it DOES NOT give you opportunity to do it together with your loved ones; buying a shoe for your mother and she trying it or even a blouse for my wife and seeing her try it out.  Sorry, I do not wish to go on and on. Perhaps this is because I love shopping? Does not matter, since the writer dared to write despite having near zero mall shopping experience, then I should be allowed to reply as someone who shops very often, both online and real one. Oh yeah, I do agree, the 40 new malls are too many and I do believe some would close in the near future. Does not mean I am negative with every one of them though. Happy shopping.
written on 25 Sept 2015
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