Jesus, how bad has societies obsession with materialism/possession got when a country known around the World for its lack of crime needs to put up posters like this around it’s shopping malls?
Mind you, I wouldn’t be surprised if we found out this was another strategy by the banks to get young people to work for them rather than do something more fulfilling, creative and/or rewarding.
Saying that, I particularly love the statement ‘CAN YOU CONSIDER BUYING A CHEAPER SUBSTITUTE’ when the nation has been nurtured to only value prestigious and ‘aspirational’ brands/products – and this leads me to something I’ve been thinking about for a long, long time.
I think most of you know that Singapore is a land obsessed with shopping.
Sure, many cultures like to acquire material possessions, but you’ve seen nothing until you’ve come here.
Apart from having more shopping centres per capita than anywhere else in the World [and they’re still building more] Singapore has whole locations dedicated to particular niche categories.
You want to buy something for your fish tank at home?
No probs – go to the place where every bloody shop is an Aquarium retailer.
What about Christmas decorations?
Easy, pop along to the Concourse and you can stock up till the year 3010!
Anyway, this isn’t a post about how Asia believes in a ‘collective category’ strategy [which is very different to the West’s attitude of ‘category isolation’] it’s a call for help because I’m looking for some advice on how to undeniably validate a hypothesis I’ve got.
I should point out what I am about to say isn’t limited to Singapore [infact the ‘inspiration’ for it came from Australia] I just believe it is especially prevalent here and if proved correct – I would like to try and get the Government to instigate some social/corporate reforms [God knows how / God knows what] because I genuinely believe it has major implications on the fabric of society and as a result, implications on the growth and development of Singapore as a whole.
OK, so on with the hypothesis …
Most people agree that Singaporeans have 2 key pastimes … Eating and Shopping.
My suggestion is that the reason these activities have such a disproportionate level of importance in people’s lives is because as children, they represented the key times where they would/could interact with their parents as a family.
Now let me explain why.
Life is tough in Asia.
I’m not saying life is easy in the West – it’s just that out here, there is a value system that for thousands of years has dictated how people must behave [and what they must achieve] if they are to be looked on favourably by family, friends, community and country.
Because of this, the pressure to fulfil these goals is immense so people spend an incredible amount of time [and energy] pursuing academic, professional and social ‘qualifications’, leaving little time for them to connect and bond with their family other than when they eat and/or shop. [hence my hypothesis]
Yes I know I’m being generalistic – of course not everyone is like this and Singapore is especially at ‘risk’ because of the countries wealth/industry/infrastructure – however there are many, many signs that Singaporeans are now associating shopping and eating with ’emotional happiness’ rather than simply an ‘activity’ [plus the fact that in many cases, people eat and shop in the same physical location] so if anyone can give me some advice on how I can properly test my hypothesis, I’d be grateful because as I said, if it proves to be correct, the ramifications on Singapore are just as dangerous as the threat of terrorism or SARS.