What with the current global crisis and the need for the country to maintain healthy growth, I believe we can all play a positive role in ensuring the wheels of the economy are well greased by doing what we Indonesians do best; namely, shopping. We are, after all, a nation of ardent consumerists, where conspicuous consumption is not only socially encouraged, but also culturally and nationally condoned.
Fortunately, the appetite for consumer spending is showing no sign of waning. The rate at which gargantuan shopping malls are springing up is inversely proportional to the development of other public attractions such as museums, art galleries or theaters.
It may soon be far easier and more effective to house these cultural and social venues within the mall complexes. After all, man cannot live by bread alone. Once in a while, after one’s acquisitive needs have been met, a pursuit other than shopping may seem preferable to making a beeline for the Jakarta Big Sale.
As a matter of fact, quite a number of the more up-market shopping malls already provide a cornucopia of activities that give the consumer a comprehensive lifestyle experience, ranging from shopping, hanging out, watching films, eating and drinking, surfing the Internet and other modern day indulgences designed to please, and at the same time, relieve consumers of their hard-earned cash.
Aware that some of the foreign brand shops are too pricey for the majority of Indonesia’s middle class, many malls now even have semi-permanent bazaars in their atriums, or other open areas selling locally made clothes and handicrafts to attract those with lower purchasing power.
Meanwhile, calls to buy domestically produced goods and support the creative industries have seen the churning out of a dizzying variety of locally-made products designed to combine the consumer’s materialistic drive with a pinch of feel-good nationalism. You are not spending. You are helping local businesses thrive and contributing to making Indonesia great.
Spending becomes a virtue that benefits everybody. After all, when businesses grow, they create employment, which, in turn, allows people to have money to spend. The more money they have, the more they spend and the better it is for business. No wonder this country is still posting growth when the most of the world is experiencing a painful contraction.
Luckily, the reasons (or excuses) to spend are many. The upcoming fasting month of Ramadan, the time for worldly restraint and religious piety is, ironically, the time when mainly Muslim Indonesia goes on a feverish spending spree for all manner of fine foods, fine clothes, holiday travels and lavish gifts.
Employees are normally paid an extra month’s salary specifically to fund this annual profligacy that is less an indulgence than a social obligation. So, if your overall spending doesn’t peak during this month, the chances are, you’re either not doing your duty or plain mean spirited.
Personally, however, the increasing number of shopping malls, far from helping me perfect my spending techniques, is blunting my consumerist instinct. It’s a shame really, considering that Jakarta, in particular, is becoming more and more a consumer’s paradise. I mean, look at the amount of things out there one can buy that could really boost the local economy and feed the government’s coffers.
But there it is. Of late, if I had my way, I’d be quite content to wear the same things that have been sitting in my wardrobe for the last decade. The magic words of “Sale,” “Discount” and “70 percent off” no longer make my heart skip a beat, nor my palms sweaty with anticipation. As a matter of fact, I can go past rows of fancy shops without as much as a curious glance or a pang of longing. It’s not because I now subscribe to a life of frugality. I no longer spend much simply because there seem to be less and less things that I want to buy. I hesitate to say it’s an age thing because for many, the older they get and the more well-off they are, the more expensive their purchases become.
Whether it’s brand or bling, must-have outfits or shoes to die for, they now leave me uninterested. These days the term fashionable for me screams unwearable rather than desirable. Trendy batiks render me cold, while imported clothes barely kindle my interest. If I had my way, people would be happy just wearing sack cloth and shoes that last a decade.
There is a saying that those who say that money can’t buy happiness don’t know where to shop. Perhaps the spending I need is not in the malls.
(Desi Anwar: First published in The Jakarta Globe)
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