Shopping over here hits different
I’ve never been a fan of the mall.
Okay, there might be a small bit of nostalgia associated with the mall that comes from being a 90’s kid. In that era, the mall was your social hub. A meeting grounds for friends and a backdrop for some of the best teen movies of the time.
Unfortunately, even those warm feelings quickly fade when you start to unpack some of the reasons why this is the case: Cities designed to accommodate vehicles over people result in walkable spaces being only possible in an insular environment, like a mall. A culture built around consumption is all too eager for people’s social lives to be conflated with shopping. A society with severed ties to the natural world no longer feels out of place in a hyper-artificial setting.
In the U.S., this is largely becoming a moot point. There’s no need to rally against malls, anymore, as the changing tides of time have largely done the work better than I could. Every town has at least one abandoned mall, where the setting for many people’s childhood memories look a little more like that one episode of The Last of Us. Creepy abandoned spaces where the ghost of retail signage still lingers.
However, there is a place where the mall is still very much alive and well. Perhaps more so now than ever.
I’m talking about Southeast Asia.
I don’t think I’ve ever visited this region without a mall ending up somewhere on the itinerary. Often this isn’t intentional. Like I said, I’m not a big fan. But either the company that I’m with or the errands I need to do will ultimately send me by way of a mega retail center. On a solo weekend trip to Malaysia that I once intended to spend outside as much as possible, I didn’t pack enough underwear and spent the better part of a day navigating the interconnected maze of Kuala Lumpur’s mall system.
That said, while walking around the malls of Southeast Asia, I don’t feel the same ick I do back home. They have a charm that I can appreciate.
All the things I dislike about malls still apply to the ones in Southeast Asia. They’re cathedrals of capitalism. They thrive in cities like Manila or Jakarta which are not especially pedestrian friendly. And they are artificial tile-and-glass environments.
BUT- there are some pros that I think make them more interesting than the malls of North America and these might be the same reasons their survival has outlasted their Western counterparts.
Here’s my shortlist:
1. The food
The malls of Southeast Asia host the food courts of Southeast Asia, and that means some spectacular food, often for ridiculously low prices. I had about six different $1 meals during my unintended day spent in Kuala Lumpur’s malls, mostly because I kept discovering so many unique Malaysian dishes one at a time.
In most settings you can find some fast food interpretations of local favorites that still feel true to their place of origin. You’ll also find localized versions of international fast food chains, and that usually leads to some surprises. Like the tomato soup in the Philippines’ Dunkin Donuts.
2. The air conditioning
As much as I find the idea of spending an entire day off trapped inside a mall uninspiring, I can’t blame people in Southeast Asia for totally indulging an opportunity to escape the tropical humidity. The opportunity to be somewhere largely communal that offers this comfort is pretty tough to pass up.
3. The character
In many places, the Malls of Southeast Asia all typically have their own unique flavor. In the U.S., most major retail spaces have gotten so severely homogenized. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Florida, Kentucky, California, or Minnesota, you can largely expect the same recurring patterns of stores over and over.
In Southeast Asia, malls tend to have their own unique theme. Perhaps the one that lingers in my memory best is Terminal 21 in Bangkok, which is airport themed. Each floor of the mall is fashioned after a different global destination, and of course, the food court up top is a gem.
Unfortunately, income inequality in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand can be fairly severe. Although middle class members of these places opt to hang out in the mall often, it’s often done so against products priced so disproportionately against their income levels. The constant exposure to the prospect of a cushier life most likely contributes to a lingering unhappiness.
I will say, I’m still not a mall person. On my visits to Southeast Asia, these aren’t the draw. But, I mind them a lot less. And they’re so ubiquitous to Southeast Asian life that you might as well find elements of them to enjoy. I definitely have.