Terpaksa Ubah Gaya Hidup?NST front page headline today:
Second-hand retail trade is on the uptrend.
Entrepreneurs who run these 'bundle stores' are smiling.
"I have the rich, the poor and the famous buying my second-hand shoes."
- store owner.
"It is not about how much you pay any more. What matters now is how little you pay for an item."
- Daphne Lim
an avid second-hand shopper
The second-hand business is booming as Malaysians tighten their belts and find ways to stretch their income to make ends meet.Kuala Lumpur Consumer Association likened the second-hand shopping as "a move from civilized to uncivilized".
It's vice-president, Jay Sinnah Naidu, doubts there is a rise because of brand-conscious Malaysians.
Malaysia is moving towards developed-nation status, but we're exposed to regression culture and spending habits.
"Second-hand shopping is like asking to change from a Mercedes to a Morris Minor," Jay says.People do not wear used clothes and used shoes. Now, many had catch up with this new trend.
These second-hand clothes and shoes comes from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
"The shoes though second-hand are still in good condition," says Adie (store owner)
What is perplexing is that Malaysians are buying second-hand clothes and shoes and these second-hand goods comes from countries who were far backward than Malaysia in the last decade - Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos: the people there are buying new clothes and shoes and are disposing their old ones to Malaysia: for us!!! Ubah Gaya Hidup!
I was talking to my Indonesian workers this morning on this subject and he told me that he used to buy those second-hand clothes and shoes when he first came to Malaysia to work but now he wears better clothes and shoes because he can afford and he thinks he deserved it. He asked to be excused as he is rushing out to meet with some friends at The Curve Shopping Complex. I shouted at him when he was walking away: "What are you buying this time?" He retorted: "Nokia N96 latest.". I sigh!
Read more of the news from NST here:NST: Things that don't cost a bundle
NST: Finding value in second-hand goods
NST: It's how you wear cheap imported clothes that matters
NST: Soaring future in low prices
NST: A growing romance in 'pre-loved' products
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