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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 ; 5:00 PM♥

shopping; stress relief vs materialistic nature

Shopping is Singapore's favourite pastime because it relieves stress, rather than because Singaporeans are materialistic in nature. How far do you agree with this statement?
English TA, 30th Jan 2008

Marina Square, Citilink Mall, Tampines Mall and Orchard Road. All these places are usually packed with people on weekend afternoons. What draws the crowds to these places? Obviously, people would swarm towards places such as the abovementioned to SHOP. Shopping is one pastime that is favoured by most Singaporeans, both young and young at heart. However, what is the reason behind it? Is it because shopping relieves stress? Or could it possibly be due to the materialistic nature of Singaporeans? Personally, I feel that mainly, it is stress.

It is a fact that many youngsters are seen hanging out and purchasing items at shopping centers everyday, particularly those who are in their teens. These youngsters face a lot of stress in their daily life, be it from school, parents, or even their friends. Whatever the reason, the adolescent years are definitely tumultuous and taxing. When a teenager shops, he, or she, would, more often than not, be shopping with a friend. Mindless chatter with a friend, about nothing in particular, and spending one's savings on a coveted item that one has been yearning and pining for for a very long time has the almost therapeutic effect of making one forget about his or her problems, and because of that effect, it is said that shopping is a good way to relieve stress.

Shopping does not appeal only to the young, its charm has also attracted the liking of the young at heart. Later on in life, past the adolescent stage, the world suddenly appears to be more harsh. The realities of working life start to sink and the stress of one's job demands would stress him or her out. One would feel that he, or she, has no life, working all day just to earn their keep. After all, what is the use of earning money if you have nothing to spend it on? Thus, after a hard five-day work week, an adult, stressed from working so hard and sacrificing his or her life for the past five days, would most likely hit the shopping malls to make full use of his or her earnings. The effect of finally getting what one deserves, is intoxicatingly fulfilling, thus eradicating any stress felt in the past week.

However, the materialistic desire to possess designer, or branded, items is fueled by the rampant emergence of well-known brands such as Levis, Gucci, Adidas and even Nike in our own own local shopping malls. These items exude a sense of superiority, and owning an item that is a designer original would make one feel superior and thus, this materialistic need would spur one on to splurge unnecessarily on items because of the brand, and not because of any need. However, this materialistic need only arises from the stress of peer pressure. Others, around, who possess branded items feel the need to show off, making the rest feel inferior. The rest would then feel stressed and when they finally buy a coveted branded item, the stress is immediately relieved.

Singapore is indeed a stressful country and shopping is one of the ways to relieve the atress. Shopping should not be regarded as only arising from a materialistic nature, it should, rather, be regarded as yet another way to relieve stress in a country filled with pressure, such as Singapore.