Article: Bitten by the Retail Bug

Prominently displayed in a recent issue of a mainstream newspaper are a series of articles highlighting what is not a recent observation – the proliferation of shopping malls in Malaysia. The trend of putting up one air-conditioned retail behemoth after another, particularly in urban areas, is frankly nothing new. To date, according to official records, we have more than 300 shopping malls in Malaysia, with more than half of them in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, and most of them concentrated in urban areas. The heart of KL city, especially in the Bukit Bintang area, is an outstanding [and bordering dangerously on ridiculous] example of the shopping mall madness that has hit us all – we have at least six shopping malls all situated within a 10-minute walking radius of one another. This takes us to the million-dollar question for the day – what next? Where should we go from here? And by extension, where do we draw the line?   Tourism We frequently hear the government argue its case for allowing yet another mall to be built – getting tourists to shop and drop their dollars is vital for tourism and our economy. And the more shopping malls we have, [...]