Looking out for better deals (From The Star website 20 June 2015)

by foong pek yee

THESE days pasar malam stalls sell more than the usual daily essentials, clothing and food.
One can now find handphones, expensive water purifiers and even property at the pasar malam.
While many shopping outlets have experienced a drop in customers, pasar malam stalls are still popular, said a trader who sells traditional Chinese biscuits in a few pasar malam in Ipoh.
He backed up his observation with interesting reasons.

Apart from making sales, he said businessmen must intensify their marketing and promotion exercises.

They must go to places frequented by the people, and pasar malam is one such place.
The trader, in his early 30s, said his business in the pasar malam is better than at his shop in the city centre these days.

The general perception is that the prices in pasar malam are cheaper than those at the shops, and this could be one reason that people tend to continue to visit pasar malam.
Afterall, goods sold at the pasar malam are not subject to the 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) and this also gives the impression that the prices there are cheaper.
The GST, which took effect on April 1, has definitely changed the spending pattern of many people, particularly those who have a budget.

For instance, I was told that shops selling car accessories are seeing a drastic drop in business.
Car acessories, like sound system, car rims and window tints, are most affected as they are considered optional items.

A car workshop technician told me that his customers have also started to ask for discounts for the regular maintenance.
They were also asking if there were cheaper alternatives for car parts and engine oil, he added.
“They keep on saying that everything is very expensive.”
A hair salon operator who was lamenting her slow business of late said people had started to pull back on their spending one month after the implementation of the GST.
“Obviously they feel the pinch,” she said, adding that her regulars had also cut down on their visits for hairwashes and blow drying and styling.
“Some of them wash their hair at home and only come for the blow dry and styling to cut costs,” she said.

A 60-year-old retiree told me recently that her expenses had gone up by RM200 after the GST.
While she has been careful in her spending all the while, she said she had to take a step further, meaning to take note of every sen she spends from now on.
Her concern is that her expenditure would increase faster than she had expected.
She said the price of the milk powder and supplements that she consumes daily had gone up a lot over the last few months.

“There is a price increase every other month,” she said, adding that the amount of monthly pension she received would remain the same.
To balance the spending and income, there are people who have started to cook their meals at home.
A Chinese daily reported earlier this week that many people are making their own glutinous rice dumplings for the festival today.

The reason is that it is cheaper to make the delicacy at home.
In fact, more and more people are expected to cook their meals for the same reason.