Material girl
'I want that,' declared my roommate Pauline, pointing to a Louis Vuitton Murakami eye-love monogram bag that all the sorority girls were toting. 'Of course,' she continued, 'I'd probably never use it. I just want it because everyone else has it.'
In one brutally honest statement, she managed to encapsulate the materialistic tide crashing across the developed world.
To some extent, we are all guilty of coveting our neighbours' possessions. Let me confess my own sins: I adore Kate Spade's designs and am obsessed with Burberry's trademark check. However, my phobia of shopping often prevents me from plunking down cash to satisfy these desires.
In a city where people change their mobile phones at the rate they shower, it seems strange that the phone I use in Hong Kong is heavy enough to seriously injure someone when thrown. Nonetheless, the latest hot models just aren't worth the money. I'd much rather spend the cash on ingredients for a delicious home-cooked meal.
Alternatively, I just calculate how many columns I'd need to write to afford a single article of clothing featured in CosmoGIRL! or Vogue.
Expense itself isn't the issue; value is. What distinguishes one silk blouse from another? The little logo on the front? The carefully upturned label at the back?
Is there some perverse delight to be found in strutting around like a blatant advertisement of your disposable income statement?
Most of us would like to justify our purchases with excuses such as 'better quality' or 'a unique design'. The truth, however, is that we probably wouldn't even deign to glance at the exact same item if it wasn't stamped with the signature of a top designer.
We're only human. It's time to accept that fact. Admit that you are susceptible to the crushing onslaught of peer pressure and glossy billboards. Embrace the superficial streak residing within, because only then can you control it.
So when you next find yourself in the middle of a conversation where the entire group emphatically agrees that they'd never be so shallow as to desire a product merely because of the brand name, you can sit back and laugh at their self-deception.
And, meanwhile, I'll be coughing up the courage (and cash) to buy that gorgeous Burberry poncho.
Ms Yeung is a student at the University of Pennsylvania
