The day the DVD sellers at Holiday Plaza were left stumped

July 18th, 2009 admin

It started innocently enough. I was with my wife at Kiddy Palace at Marina Square with my 6 months old baby girl. All of a sudden, my baby girl giggled. GIGGLED. We were surprised at her reaction because she was really smiling widely. After pondering for a while, my wife and myself realised that this is attributed to the song that was playing in the store – “Doe a Deer”. A common children song but effective enough to get my girl laughing.

Resolved to get that CD that is playing (with a mind to play it for every car journey so that my baby girl can behave), I was taken aback by the price – a cool S$49.90 for a box of 5 CDs, all children songs. Not that I can’t afford it, but I think the price is slightly on the high side. Suddenly, a bright idea came to my mind. I had read from Limsimi.com that Holiday Plaza, in Johor Bahru sells “nice” DVDs, VCD and CDs with MP3s. With at least 80% discount. I decided to drive into JB the same weekend to get my hands on those CDs.

Limsimi.com - DVDs at Holiday Plaza

Saturday morning came. In my Honda Civic sits myself, my wife and my girl girl. We drove in at 9.30am and there was was a slight jam. Had breakfast at Tebrau and we reached Holiday Plaza at 11am. Most of the shops were already open and that is when the shopping starts.

My wife and girl stayed in KFC while I began my mission. Saw a CD shop just outside KFC and I briskly walked towards them. They were taken aback, perhaps due to my confident and fast strides towards them. Am I a piracy enforcement officer? Without waiting for them to ask me, I shot the first question: “Hi, 有没有儿童歌？(Any nursery songs?)”

I am not sure what when through the mind of those 2 people manning the booth but both of them looked at each other and smiled. Politely, they told me that they do not sell such items.

In disbelief, I was praying now that I had not made a wasted trip. Quickly made my way to the next shop and asked: “Hi, 有没有儿童歌？(Any nursery songs?)” Again, the same answer.

Now, the third shopkeeper I approached made the joke of the day.

Me: “Hi, 有没有儿童歌？(Any nursery songs?)”
Him: Winches his eyes. “有。个人专辑。。” (Points at the porn section).
Me: “Hi, 有没有儿童歌？？！(Any nursery songs??!)”
Him: Speaks softly “有。个人专辑。。” (Points at the porn section).

Is 儿童歌 a codeword for Porn?!! Flabbergasted, I left the store.

Walked round the plaza and could not find any shops selling nursery songs. Upset! But I made the following observations:

1. Although most of the shop keepers look fierce, they are actually quite mild when you approach them and strikes a conversation with them.
2. They are actually very helpful. For example, knowing that I will not buy their wares, they will still direct me to the store they think might sell what I am looking for.
3. If you look too confident, you might make them feel uncomfortable as they will assume you might be a piracy enforcement officer.
4. Most of the stores only sell either of the following, but not all. DVDs and VCDs, Songs and MTVs, Games and Softwares. Seems like there is an unspoken agreement between each of the store owners not to eat into each other’s rice bowl.
5. Most stores do not sell MP3. Perhaps, it is not worth the risk, as a MP3 data CD easily contains 100-200 songs while an audio CD usually contain just 20 songs.
6. Michael Jackson’s History on film DVDs has all been marked up to RM$8.00 while the rest of the DVDs are selling at only RM$6.00
7. All of them were stumped my request for nursery songs. Am I the first one to make that request to them?

I left Holiday Plaza not getting what I want. I am not too upset as I managed to get some DVDs at a decent price. On top of that, topped petrol tank (RM$65, 36 litres) and had a good breakfast at Tebrau. No nursery songs though, so it looks like my wife will have to sing in the car instead.

Editor’s Note: This post is contributed by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Thanks for your contribution, W** T****!

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Entry Filed under: Shopping