Our Naivety: Is The Economy Really That Bad?
This notion of Malaysia heading towards bankruptcy has been recycled for decades. During the late 1970’s, Lim Kit Siang claimed that Malaysia is going bankrupt and will be a failed state soon in a book title ‘Time bombs in Malaysia’.
Jason Chin
For many years now we often hear certain quarters alleging that Malaysia is heading towards bankruptcy and the economy is at it’s all time low. Some have gone as far as labeling Malaysia as the next Greece. It is baffling to witness how shallow and ill-informed some people are, more so when erroneous statements are made by politicians who are suppose to be the ‘informed’ leaders.
DAP’s Dyana Sofya’s social media post on articulating economics on the state of financial affairs in Malaysia landed her as a laughing stock among the netizens. Amateurish at best, we are fortunate she did not make it as a parliamentarian. We have enough jokers from both sides of the political divide in parliament already. We do not need another.
We often come across retailers complaining of poor business and frequently see some winding up. Although irresponsible individuals claim that poor sales is because the public has no money to spend, it is an utterly bullish conclusion because this phenomenon is occurring globally and there is a reason for it.
Numerous articles have been written about this occurrence and the western world terms it ‘Retail Apocalypse’. Even developed nations like America is facing a tough retailing time. Big brands such as Guess, Bebe, Macy, Michael Kors, Toys R Us, and Payless is shutting down stores across America citing poor sales
Quite frankly, the sky is not falling; but instead the sector is evolving. A combination of factors including the rise of e-commerce, over-supply of malls, and the surprising effects of restaurant renaissance are contributing in one way or another to the meltdown of retail stores.
Online merchant Lazada group racked in RM1 billion in gross merchandise value during their month-long online revolution sales in December last year. Lazada Malaysia’s Chief Executive Officer said that the pool of online shoppers is exponentially growing annually across all geographical locations. Lazada is only one of the merchant’s mentioned here. There are so many online shopping portals, namely, Amazon, Wish, Shopee, Alibaba, 11Street, and many more. The numbers of merchants are sprouting which tells us that the demand is huge and it is a very lucrative and profitable venture.
Air Asia X’s revenue in the last quarter of 2017 was the highest ever. Numbers of flights to various destinations are increasing by the day. How are these numbers obtained if people have no money to spend?
The truth is, people’s needs have become extravagant. Everyone wants to own the latest mobile phone model even if the previous one was purchased just six months ago. Majority wants to be trendy with the most recent seasonal fashion outfit.
Even as recently as one generation ago, money was spent purchasing items truly needed. People today splash cash on the ‘nice to have’, hence financial burden is on the rise. No amount of income can quench the spending thirst of people nowadays.
Such occurrences are sequelae of modernization, as Malaysia is rapidly growing towards a developed nation. Neither can the government lay claim on the growth of e-commerce purchase nor can the Opposition spin facts and say the economy is terrible.
Malaysia is not heading towards bankruptcy. In fact, this notion of Malaysia heading towards bankruptcy has been recycled for decades. During the late 1970’s, Lim Kit Siang claimed that Malaysia is going bankrupt and will be a failed state soon in a book title ‘Time bombs in Malaysia’.
Over time, the retail apocalypse is speculated to magnify. Just as Charles Darwin theorized that only the fittest survive, it is a case with the retail world as well. Best we don’t be naïve listening to every word that is spewed by politicians as we head towards the elections.
