Lifestyle Living

In tribute to two friends of opposite spectrum in 'living' their lifes.

In my opinion, Lifestyle Living is fueled by two sources, commercialism and pride. I will just create a story, non-biased or stereotyped; the settings is purely for purpose of the story. I have all the respect for kampung and urban folks.

My name is Ali. I've been in KL for 2 years already and my net worth is currently about -RM20k. Yes, I'm in debt of RM20,000. I'll start at the beginning.

I worked as a sales executive in a small town, but living some 10km away into the heart of my kampung. I went to work on my father's old motorcycle. My family is very simple. We do not buy magazines monthly, only when there's some interesting stories to be read. My mum, who's a housewife cooks a lot in the morning, be it meehoon or nasi lemak and then at lunch, she'll just add another dish, be it chicken or fish to be eaten with the left over morning breakfast. Since I stayed just nearby my home, I went home to eat my lunch.

For dinner, it's a feast! Rice, vegetable dish, fish and cold syrup, or orange, or lychee for drinks. We ate together right after dusk prayers. In all, I earned about RM800 on a fixed salary, and I only spent about RM300 per month, inclusive of my prepaid phonebills and my phone was a cast-off from my sister who I payed RM200 on a 4 months installment. Every evening, I played soccer with the kampung kids.

Then a miracle happened. My performance in the company is so good that they have decided to give me a raise and send me to KL, to work in a bigger branch. They believed that I will bring more benefit to the company in KL. So, I told my parents of my increment to RM1,800 but still a sales executive, but this time I'll be working in KL. My parents were so proud we had a kenduri kesyukuran where we invited the whole kampung.

When I first stepped in KL, I was elated! Big buildings, people always walking about rushing to something important. It felt so lively, so professional. I rented a small room in a 2nd floor 3-bedroom apartment unit at RM200 per month. It was okay, walking up and down 2 flights of stairs was no biggie. Then I started work.

On the first day, my manager took me around, introduced me around and even took me out to lunch. At lunch he explained how life is to be in KL. Firstly, he said, "You need to get a car." I have always thought of getting a car, so I said "Ok, not a problem. I think I should be able to afford a Kancil with my new increased salary." "A Kancil?! My boy, you're doing sales, people will look at you, and do you think they'll trust in a product that the sales executive tries to sell driving a Kancil?! I suggest a Proton Wira or above, but Wira suits you enough, as a well-to-do young sales exec." The next few weeks, I got some monetary help from my dad and got myself a 2nd hand Proton Wira at RM40,000. My loan is RM30,000, and I am paying RM520 monthly for 7 years.

One morning, my colleagues told me there was a rip on my shirt. I said "Oh, I didn't realise, I guess the shirts getting old. Will buy some new ones next week." "Where do you buy your shirts, all can't tahan long one?" "Pasar malam nearby my apartment, more expensive than those I can get at 'bundle' shop back in my hometown." There was silence, a smirk and as they're walking away, the start to laugh amongst themselves. I got angry, called them back and ask them what's wrong. They said "How cheap can you be?! Buy at pasar malam for business suits?! We all buy from departmental stores, they last longer." I said "I know, but pasar malam is about RM15 can last 9-12 months but department shirts are like RM79 and last about two years." "It's about brand, friend. They see you wear Durban, Crocodile, they know you have taste, and you're successful." And so that day begins me conversion from pasar malam clothes to departmental clothes.

Then it began. Social lifestyle, meeting of clients and clients asking me why I'm not up to date on phones. Friends started to invite me to their homes to relax and play console games. They say "Renting at RM300++ is very logical for execs like us" coz' of better environment, security and pride. Meeting of friends,... either it be at mamak at nights, or restaurants at lunch. "Mamak is for night times, not lunch! Let's go Secret Recipe instead." My first week whereby I packed lunch at RM3.20 and drink water in the office is now a RM8 to RM12 daily. My phone now has a 3G, cost me RM2,400 but hey, it was on a 12 months installment with 0% interest!

However, I'm successful. In the past 2 years, my performance was very good that now I'm earning RM3,500 per month. Next week I'll start paying for my new apartment. At first I wanted to settle for something below RM150,000, but my friends said "Hey, why so cheapskate. That one for low to middle income lah!" So, my apartment is RM320,000 and I'm going to pay RM1920 per month for the next 30 years. I'm also on 0% installment for my new LCD TV and my stereo systems ending in the next 6 months. My two credit cards has reached about RM6,000 in debts each, so I'm sourcing for another one very soon.

Just last week, a friend who owed me money since kampung time met up with me, to pay me up. I lent him about RM1000 for his studies, and now he's in KL as well, working as a financial advisor. He told me he'll do a free check up on my financial health since I helped him a lot!

Then he showed me something I've never thought I'd see, and right before he showed it to me, he said "Friend, you're spending more than you can earn. A lot of people do that. As they earn more, they spend more. It's a 'reward' thing. They think 'Hey, I got a raise, therefore my reward is a better lifestyle.' They don't realise that the 'reward' is actually their doom. It's a drug, to have these rewards. You just can't have enough of them. They will start changing handphones yearly, buy bigger things, expensive tastes, and so forth. And they'll never get out of debt."

He showed me my assets. My RM320k apartment which is now RM335k in market. But in the past two years I've paid RM1920 monthly (RM46080 in two years) only to service an interest of RM39,993 and only paid about RM6063 in loan debts. I'm still owing RM281937 after two years! Just the house and car alone is RM2440 out of my salary of RM3500 per month, and that has not included my other 0% installments.

He advised me to live within my means, change the car and the house, get a more modest ones, but I cannot. Pride has taken over. I know I live above my means, and that's the way it's going to be. No way will I downgrade myself. All I need to do is just work better and get better increment. This is my life now.