by Lan Daval
SHORT LETHTAL PUNCHES – It is the duty of the national leadership to assert the prerogatives of the people, create a prosperous, and most importantly a democratic and just society. It needs to build a bridge between the rich, the middle-class and the poor. It is so degrading to see the line between the rich, the middle-class sector and the poor blurring as the latter struggle with unemployment and underdevelopment.
COMPARISON IS ODIOUS – Was there anything else going in a progressive and well-developed country like Canada? Indeed there was, notably in the city of Toronto, the country’s biggest city, but much has been overshadowed by the fast growth related to the high-end retail business. But amid the high-end retail trade there is evident progress. Small but smart investors, particularly of Chinese ancestry who euphorically were looking to the future, embarked on the retail business peddling cheaper consumer-based products.
For now their merchandizing scheme is gaining ground and clearly visible at the Spadina and Dundas commercial areas popularly known as Chinatown. This reminds me of the business atmosphere along the stretch of Ramon Magsaysay Avenue here in Davao City, specifically in the Chinatown commercial district where Chinese and Taiwanese traders who even can hardly speak Pilipino and the native tongue are now dominating the cheap consumer-based merchandise retail business. The retailing concept is exactly the same.
The clearest sign of progress is the proliferation of this kind of retail stores which have stocks of products ranging from garments, footwear, kitchenware, electronic items, gadgets and accessories, sportswear, athletic equipment, textile, toys, food stuff and many more newly imported, mainly from China. These hard-nosed business smarts are upbeat on the results because shoppers have shown interest in cheaper consumer-based productsand spend far more money than before on affordable items.
Well, I presume small Chinese entrepreneurs in Canada are mimicking – and still continuously doing so – their fellow Chinese small traders in different parts of the world. The way I look at it, courageous and determined Chinese capitalists embraced the low-cost consumer-based merchandise retail trade much earlier than their Indian counterpart s did – and have been more devoted to the retail business trend. As a result, their economical business scheme has been growing and spreading fast. With incomes rising in a country such as Canada and the rest of North America, retailers of inexpensive consumer-based items have found a more sizable market for their wares.
However, comparison is odious. There is a huge consumer audience in Canada, notably Toronto, and other big bustling cities because of high and stable income of the working sector. Unlike here in the Philippines, including Davao City where job opportunity is scarce and average daily income below the minimum wage, consumer audience is largely limited to those who have enough money to spare. But the Chinese and Taiwanese traders doing business in the country, particularly Davao City, have remained optimistic. Despite the fundamental economic difference they are taking the risk as part of the highly competitive endeavor.
Now the inexpensive consumer-based products retail trade is thriving not only in Davao City but throughout the country and the rest of the world. The tangible proof could be seen in the city’s different busy commercial districts. More retail outlets are cramped with varied collections and lines of low-cost consumer-based goods. The main reason foreign traders doing business in the city, many of whom I suspect are aliens, prosper because they certainly know how to reshape small spenders including the spendthrifts and tightwads into using their hard-earned money and expect the big growth will still be coming.
