My main leisure activity in HK has been endless, and often aimless shopping. People call it “retail therapy”, but I always wonder why should I be in need of such a therapy, to cure, if anything.
Two days ago, I was on another boring flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Having finished th the book I brought with me on the earlier flight, and having had a rather hectic week, I had nothing to kill the boredom apart from indulging myself in a flamboyant voluminous fashion magazine to relax my brain muscles.
It didn’t occur to me that I had just flipped open a Pandora’s box: my eyes were immediately bombarded with trendy clothes that define cutting edge styles, tantalising cosmetics promising to be elixirs of immortal youth, flashy accessories accentuating individualism…and more. A couple of pages over, a freshly cooked shopping list was slowly scrolling down my nodding head. At the same time, a tinge of guilt stealthily crept into my newly revived passion for material goods. My mind was in a constant debate with itself as I turned the pages (it totally defied my original innocent intention of relaxing my brain!): my wardrobe was already packed. Yes, but weren’t we planning to get a new wardrobe in that spare room? I had a pair of boots like that, but certainly a lighter colour one would go well with light colour clothes…and so on
I believe the greed for shopping is certainly not in our nature, but deeply seeded in our nurture. This is especially the case in Hong Kong, where what accompany your footsteps every moment were arrays of ads and shops showcasing big brand names, and sadly, nothing else. A colleague from mine once told his story of getting cognizant with IWC when he first moved back to HK from the States. “I didn’t know what IWC was at the time, all I knew about watch was Rolex. But I was passing by this big IWC shop everyday on my way to work. You wouldn’t get intrigued by it if you just occasionally pass by its shop front, but this was an everyday reminder of IWC! Naturally I wanted to know what it was and started to pay attention to it.” Yes, this is an insidious education of shopping: kids here grew up loving all the brands, while kids else where grew up loving nature, history, literature…This explains why when London is showcasing its West End glories, Hong Kong is flexing its retail prowess. Uh oh, they don’t quite match, do they?
When I closed that fashion magazine, my shopping list was duly completed. The plane was about to land and I was more than ready to pounce onto my targets.
