Living for the Joneses

New York is a world way. Hop onto a plane and the Big Apple becomes a distant memory. What really struck me was the premium people on my side of the globe have to pay. For everything. For stuff that we consider designer or high street right down to food.   

For a simple Coach bag, for example, which goes for generally no more than a couple of hundred dollars - the same costs close to a couple of thousands here. Even after you consider the exchange rate and import tax, the figures still don't add up. Makes me feel that Asians are being ripped off, by our own importers who sell a certain lifestyle to us, which touts a luxurious aspiration.

But whose fault is it anyway? That Malaysians should place so much emphasis on brands, and buy into the notion of status equals being able to afford labels?

Time and again I have this conversation with various people. How certain fields add pressure to conform and how one has to carry labels to be acceptable. Admittedly it takes a strong character to reject conventional expectation and stand firm to say: my actions are not dictated by society, my friends, my boss, my industry,etc

While I am no judge to point fingers to say what's wrong and who's right, I only hope that my lamlets have been given a strong enough moral radar to know the difference between buying for personal pleasure (within one's budget) and owning an object out of pressure. That it's quite alright not to live up to the Joneses.

No that I'm not entirely innocent either as I freely confess that I did go on a shopping spree as well. If only to  thumb my nose at those who had to pay premium prices for the same. And it seems totally unwholesome that I should be left in the clutches of temptation without succumbing to the wiles of New York. My biggest earthly joy in life, when not struggling to tout Biblical values to my lamlets, is being able to outwit the system. Getting a bargain for a song.   

Everything is chasing after the wind, so it states in Ecclesiastes.   

When I mentioned this to a friend, she said that while she agreed with this in principle, she saw no harm in the chase. Especially if you can afford it. And that while she understood where I was coming from, as a mother and as someone who has been on the brink of death's door, she wasn't in the same boat. Therefore she choose to live life to the fullest while she can. Why does it take a glimpse of tomorrow's pain to shock us into living meaningfully for today? Then again, the word meaningful is always relative...