J SHOPPING CULTURE

Last Wednesday was J Card members’ Day in Jusco, 1 Utama. The wife took a day off and requested my company. With no meeting scheduled for that day, I obliged without realising the grave implications associated with the outing.

We arrived at 1 Utama before 9:00AM. The first omen of impending disaster was the chaotic traffic congestion leading to the shopping complex - unthinkable for an early weekday morning. Circumventing the mayhem, we smartly detoured to the basement car park of the adjoining One World Hotel.

Emerging from the basement we were in for another shock. The whole of 1 Utama shopping complex was packed to the rafters. One can hardly move in the sea of people. It took a few long minutes for the body and mind to adapt and adjust.

There were 2 distinctive categories of shoppers on that day. The majority in the crowd were apparently seasoned shoppers. These veterans were armed to the teeth, with steely determination in their eyes they charged to the targeted aisles piling in more items into their already overflowing shopping trolleys. And we are talking about pushing shopping trolleys in the departmental store sections! This is something new to me and a real an eye opener. The few lost souls that gaped in awe at the melee like us were a minority in the crowd.

Apparently all the shops in 1 Utama also decided to participate and cash in on the Mother of all Sales although they are not related to Jusco in anyway. With armies of devoted J-card members J shopping culture has definitely taken root in Malaysia. Taking in the scene it was difficult to picture that the world is in a financial crisis, that the markets had crashed and that the impending recession is looming around the next corner.

5 November 2008

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