To shop or not to shop?

So, what's a girl to do when there is a new shopping mall in town thats supposed to be hot, hot, hot?  Ignore the temptation and constantly tell herself that she already have enough clothes to last her a lifetime?  Or succumb to the temptation to just go 'visiting', but end up buying bag loads of stuff anyway?

Hmmmm... I am a self-confessed shopaholic and rather proud to be one.  To start with, I have the whole series of the Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella and is an ardent fan of the female character of the book.  She is somebody I can relate to when I shop, especially when she keep telling herself how she does not need another bag, or shoes, or clothes ever again if she buys what she sees at the moment.  I sometimes find myself feeling like that too, or rather most often feel so - so, it seemed she can understand me like no other people can.

So when Farenheit 88 came about just this month, I feel tempted again to visit it.  So it houses Uniqlo, the famous Japanese fashion brand, like the Ikea of Japanese fashion, maybe?  But I have been to the Uniqlo in Ion Orchard, not particularly impressive though, not the type of pretty floral dresses and cute tees that I fancy.  So, there is no real adrenalin rush to Farenheit 88...

Anyway, plenty of new mall coming up in KL soon, and to name a few - Solaris Dutamas Publika, Sunway Giza 2, there's one in PJ who's name has just slipped my mind, KL Festival City in Setapak, Citta in Ara Damansara, Viva and who knows whats coming next... What we need is not another 'me too' mall, but rather one that has brands that are not in Malaysia yet.  H&M (the Swedish fashion house) would be nice...

Well, it seems that 'death by ubiquity' is not a lesson that mall developers learn though... is it?

Will the sun ever rise again?

So, what's a girl to do when her future appears bleak and gloom? Well, its not like its a life-threatening situation or whatsoever, at least not in the wider context of global warming, poverty in the 3rd world nation, or the tsunami.  Compared to these, what I'm facing seemed minute, but who's to say that what I am going thru is not worrying, at least in my world and the almost 400 of us?

I have heard and read loads about how people got retrenched, offered the VSS or unscrupulously forced to abandoned their well loved job because of some sinister reasons, but never have I thought that this will one day happen to my well-loved and respected job.  How would you feel when one day you learned that the company you have so loyally served has been bought over by another with an entirely different corporate culture and an entirely contrasting organisational make-up?  Well, rich people buy (and dispose) companies (and also all the employees that comes with it, be they assets or liabilities) in the same manner most of us buy our groceries!

Most people may say, well its just a job, so don't get too personal about it.  True, but when you spend close to 10 hours everyday at work, then work inadvertently becomes part of your life, if not the whole of it.  So, when work sucks, your life sucks at well.  And trust me, you will feel lost when one day you realise that what you have been so proud of all along doesn't seemed to appreciate you as much as you have appreciated it.  You will then learn that organisations are indeed faceless and hearltess, and the same can only be said about the people at its helm.

So, to my 400+ comrades out there who are affected by the 'merger' (actually its a buy-out', merger's just a politically correct term used to diffuse the cruelty of the business act), be strong and the moral behind this story is - don't get too emotional about an object that has no feeling for you at all.  It is so hard to say this, but let's face it, it is just not worth it.  

The sun may just never rise again.....