The desire to show off is present in every modern human being. What differentiates us is whether we can control that desire.
Living in an era that is materialistic and based on things, resulting in many of us who can’t stand to finally show off our perceived high self-efficacy. Whether we are aware of it or not, only the owner of the body knows.
There are some items that are used as symbols of a person’s status, often held up as evidence of ‘I’m successful. There is no problem to buy but the problem is, why do you want to broadcast it evenly after buying? Here are five things that are often shown by those who show the property.
1. Credit card
When queuing to pay for goods anywhere, try to observe that there are many individuals who deliberately choose to put their platinum credit card at the front of their wallet.
To this day we do not understand why credit card holders are proud to own a credit card and see it as a form of status symbol. Is this because by holding a credit card, that is proof that the bank is confident in your financial ability?
Can having a platinum-level credit card with a maximum spending limit of RM20,000 show the world your big salary?
Nope. Credit cards need to be seen as a banking product that is no longer relevant as a status symbol because it encourages people to go into debt, spend more than they need. With high-interest rates, service charges and fines, it’s time we ditched the mentality of credit cards being considered a status symbol.
2. Apple products
There are still many of us who are proud to own products produced by Apple. Is that already?
It’s hard to believe that after the death of the late Steve Jobs, who we have to admit was pretty great at selling products, the feeling of shock among Apple product owners hasn’t faded even though it’s clear that the innovation advantage that Apple previously led is now diminishing.
What’s more, Apple itself has already lost lawsuits filed by Apple users themselves, when the company deliberately changed the speed of user devices through newer software updates.
The allegation that Apple deliberately slows down their devices in order to ensure that users switch to newer devices, is a case that is being heard in a European court.
Times have changed. Now consumers already have too many options to get technology that is comparable to what Apple produces in a much lower price.
There is nothing else to be proud of as an Apple user. There are other brands that are much more expensive than Apple products if the price is used as a measure.
3. Drink coffee
Try to go anywhere, you will definitely find many coffee shops growing like mushrooms, trying to compete with the popularity of international coffee shop franchises that have been operating for a long time.
The opening of these coffee shops was helped to some extent by the ease of importing high-quality coffee beans into our market, allowing many entrepreneurs to compete and offer products as good as the existing well-known brands.
This change also causes the effort to display ‘I’m drinking expensive coffee‘ that some individuals often make, the more it loses its impact. This is because everyone can drink the same coffee.
There is no denying that international franchises still have a different prestige, especially in terms of the quality of drink preparation and also branding.
But in this day and age, when even the nooks and crannies of the village have coffee bistros that can offer caramel frappuccinos on the menu, we don’t have to wait long to see ‘expensive coffees’ being downgraded to ordinary ones Ikat Tepi tea.
4. Vacation abroad
As a person who has never been out of Peninsular Malaysia, there is indeed a desire for the writer to travel abroad – whether it is just to Sabah and Sarawak or our close neighbors such as Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.
What’s more, when we see our close contacts actively uploading statuses and photos about vacations abroad quite often. What’s strange…when he travels domestically, it doesn’t look like joint ventures are done. We don’t know what your intention is to upload your vacation visuals abroad. Maybe you want to share your experience.
But…if you think about it with an open mind…nowadays ‘everyone can fly.’ The era where ‘traveling abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is no longer relevant.
If we look at the market our products also reflect this change. Shops selling travel equipment mushroomed.
Even more strange for us in Malaysia, many shops selling winter products such as clothes and accessories have also become a common sight showing that there is a high demand among members of our society.
Those who can afford it, they will choose a tourist destination in Europe. Those who cannot afford it, can still travel around the continent of Asia or Southeast Asia.
5. Cars
Among car-loving netizens, quips about fans of the H and T brands are often heard – because the two brands are considered a ‘higher’ status symbol than local brand cars.
So much so that many local car owners themselves have low self-esteem and are criticized for not trying harder to improve their own abilities in order to get a better car.
In reality, the price gap between local cars and non-local brand cars is narrowing day by day. The car market under 9,776.24$ is still filled with local brands but when we talk about cars above that level – the price competition is actually balanced. What’s strange is that some members of our society still see a foreign brand car priced at 16293.73$ as ‘better’ than a local brand car at the same price… even though the specifications and size of the local brand car are much better.
Arguing about the status and grade of this car is indeed a noisy discussion, but in the end, who feels proud or humble, both of them still take out a loan with the bank to buy a car, right? Stop looking down and feeling inferior just because of the car, because we are all just debtors.
