import culture
April 5th, 2006 by boon
Nasi lemak – RM4
Fettucine Carbonara – RM16
Teh Ais – RM1.20
Iced Latte – RM8.80
Autoworld Malaysia – RM9.90
Autoworld UK – RM17
Perodua Kelisa – RM40000
Honda Jazz iDSi – RM100000
If these prices look right to you, then simple calculation should tell you that an import culture will most definitely cost 2 to 4 times more than a local lifestyle.
I thought about it last weekend, when I had more than just a bit more time on hand to think about it…. an import culture is a lifestyle that doesn’t come from the mother land. It comes from anywhere but.
The Beatles is import culture. Korean dramas are import culture. Anime is import culture. Computer games are import culture. Steak is import culture too. So is pasta. So are T-shirts, jeans, spiked hair, mousse, beer, tennis, cars, scuba diving, impressionist paintings.
Some of these things we take for granted. Some of them don’t cost us much because we have access to pirated DVDs and bittorrent. Some of it we have learned to accept, such as the price of housing and inflation, since we are pretty helpless anyway.
Since the last episode about the car, I was looking for a reason to explain why middle class isn’t really middle class in Malaysia. The reason is because we’ve been accustomed to a lifestyle of buying things on credit.
Our housing loans have a longer credit term than it used to be 30 years ago. Car loans may have lower interest rates, but they stretch for 9 years. Truly, the banks are the ones that own us. Even our businesses run on loans.
In effect, all of us are working for financial institutions:
Housing loan interest rate: 6%
Car loan interest rate: 4%
Credit card interest rate: 18%
If we make use of the above facilities, about 30 sen out of every ringgit we earn goes to the banks. If I were a bank, I’d be rich beyond measure, and I’d still look good.
In conclusion to this theory, I’ve had to make some sobering decisions:
1. My car has to remain locally-made for now
2. I should increase consumption of local foods from “local” places
3. Work towards paying off my car and housing loan as soon as possible within reason
4. Look for ways to “export” local resources (one of which is accomplished by working for an MNC and trading across borders)
If we enjoy an import culture, then we’d better start thinking of ways to export, to the same degree and more, the resources we have to the world beyond us……..
or just be satisfied on consuming things locally.