Avoid IKEA On The Holidays

A major hypermart operator's tagline goes something like "Where Malaysians Shop". Until yesterday, I was inclined to believe this is so. But I've never been to Ikea on a Hari Raya. It seemed that the entire Malaysia was there. The largest contributing states were Penang, Ipoh and Johor. Not to be left out, the kiasu Singaporeans also made their presence felt. It was the first day of the Muslim festivities but it appeared that the Chinese folks were doing their New Year shopping, grabbing innocuous items such as door stops to toilet brushes. Only a handful of Malays were seen, naturally. If you thought that I was there to pass time, it wasn't. I was waiting for my visiting Penang relatives to finish their shopping of bath mirrors, shoe racks, stools and floor lamps.