Christine Lee Yet Yee

Nothing last forever. This can be implied in our daily items such as electronic devices, furniture, clothes and so on as they will be unable to function after a period of time. In this era of globalization, people prefer to buy new things instead of repairing the old ones. This act is gradually becoming a trend in the modernized era. There are many causes that leads to this trend including hectic lifestyle, cost and the influence from mass media.

 

Firstly, the hectic lifestyle that people are living today contributes to them purchasing new things rather repairing the old ones. People nowadays tend to be engrossed in their working life.They work for long hours and some even work overtime. As such, they barely have time to spare besides working. When their daily items are not functioning, they will immediately purchase a new one  instead of repairing it. This is because sending the item for repairing takes time and it is inconvenient to travel back and forth for the store. In addition, the process of repairing takes a few days to complete. Hence, buying a new one to replace the spoiled item is less troublesome.

 

Besides, the cost of repairing for certain products can be expensive. Sometimes, fixing a cracked screen for a smart TV might cost more or less the same than buying a brand new one. On the other hand, the money you would spend repairing your old device could actually get you something new. For instance, instead of getting the cracked screen fixed, maybe you can spend slightly more and purchase a brand new TV with better quality and features. Plus, the new TV bought comes with a warranty of two years and it is more durable compared to the old one. Moreover, it is not guaranteed that the repaired item will be able to function well for a long time. There are cases whereby the item will have to be repaired multiple times and the total cost of repairing it exceeds the price of a new item. Therefore,

      

 

On average, we are exposed to approximately 5000 advertisements per day. The forms of advertisement includes illustration, TV commercial, radio commercial, signboards and banner. We see and listen to these advertisement almost everyday in our lives. When every advertisement carries similar message, people tend to believe that their lives will be better if they buy the new product that has been advertise. Consequently, we will get influenced by the message conveyed through the advertisement without any hesitations. This is not a complete condemnation of the marketing industry, this is simply a call to realize their message affects us more than we realize. So, when we find something broken or spoiled, we will purchase the products that have been advertise for no reason. As a result, we are more susceptible to advertising than we believe.

 

 

This trend has result in a significant increase of waste disposal such as furniture, old electrical appliances and daily items. This indirectly causes pollution to the environment with the accumulation of unwanted spoiled items. When the environment is polluted, our health will be affected as well.Health issues like cough, fever and headache may occur frequently. Besides, people will be unable to live in a clean and comfortable environment due to the over contaminated surroundings.

 

To conclude, the average Malaysian home size has grown from 1000 square feet to 2500 square feet. Personal generates more than RM 15 million in revenue each year. Report indicates we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. This numbers should causes us to start asking some difficult questions of ourself. Why do we often buy new things instead of fixing the old things? There is more joy to be found in owning less than can ever be discovered in pursuing more.