Rosmah helping her son Risdan select a school bag.
KOTA KINABALU: With prices of school items expected to increase 30 per cent next year, many parents are taking full advantage of the year-end sales at various departmental stores and retail outlets around the city to shop for school items for their children.
Raidah Sudin from Indah Permai bought stationery and two pairs of shoes for her 12-year old daughter Chang Qi Jun and 7-year old son Aaron Chang Qi Yong at a shop in Penampang New Township.
“The prices have increased so we only buy what my children need. Their school uniforms are still in good condition, so I did not buy new ones. I will make sure that their uniforms last as long as possible,” Raidah said.
“But I have to buy two pairs of new shoes because they really need to replace the old ones. The items cost me about RM400,” she said.
Meanwhile, Yasumoi Sunga from Telipok said RM400 is just for buying school uniforms, school bags and shoes for her two daughters.
“Both my girls are now in secondary school, so I need to buy more. Buying stationery and revision books are costly but I don’t mind spending on books because it is for their future.
“Everything can cost me nearly RM1,000 but I will budget my spending. I can buy revision books first while the stationery can be bought during Chinese New Year sales,” she said.
Harnani Wazhry from Pitas said she would be doing her last minute shopping this weekend for her only daughter, Nadia Ghazali.
She said she was aware of the price hike for school items, so she told her daughter that she would only be buying what was necessary.
“My budget is RM200 for Nadia, and I think it is enough just to buy a few things. Her uniforms, shoes and bag are still in good condition, but I need to buy stationery like pencils, colours, books and so on.
“She will be in Primary 2 next year, and luckily there are no school fees, but only contributions for the Parent-Teacher Association,” she said.
Harnani is planning to do her shopping in Kota Marudu town with her husband and Nadia.
Meritis Eling, a mother of six was allocated RM1,200, by her husband to buy school supplies for next year’s school session.
“I normally buy my children’s school supplies from Ramai Jaya Departmental Store in Telipok Ria, or Tuaran, while their shoes will be bought at Bata because of their reasonable prices.
“Last year my husband gave me RM1,000 for school supplies but next year my last son Muhd Haziq is turning seven so I need to buy a new set of school uniforms and stationery,” she said.
Meanwhile, mother of four, Rosmah Iyonong, 42, from Kota Marudu is of the opinion that the increase in prices of stationery will affect her expenditures for school preparation in a small, but negative way.
“Although stationery are significantly smaller and not as expensive as school uniforms or school bags, the fact that they will cost more than the current price will affect our shopping budget. But since they are also essentials, we will have to buy them anyway,” said Rosmah,
Rosmah, who took her youngest child, seven-year-old Risdan Christ to the the Wisma Merdeka shopping complex for some last-minute shopping, yesterday, said although she did not normally shop at the last minute, the last-minute promotions on school essentials proved to be beneficial.
For Rus Dzulkiflee, 39, and his wife, Roziah Ali Hussain, there’s nothing much to compare to in terms of prices of school essentials as they took their eldest out of two children, seven-year-old Mohd Faris Iskandar for shopping yesterday, making it their first time experiencing the year-end school preparation rush.
Rus expressed gratitude that there were a lot to choose from when it came to places selling school essentials in Kota Kinabalu.
He noted that the variety of shopping places to choose from also gave parents the advantage of having more options, and therefore would not be too affected by the increase in prices of stationery.
“Stationery are only a small portion of the expenditure and I think that even if they cost more in the future, they will not impact on our budget. Besides there are a lot of places selling stationery, leaving us with various options to choose from, as well as various brands around,” said Rus.
Roziah said other than work commitments, one of the reasons for their last-minute shopping was also due to wanting everyone in their family to come along with them to shop for Faris’ first year of schooling, including his grandparents.
“We wanted everyone to come so we had to wait for a time when it was convenient for everyone,” she said, when met while doing their shopping at the Wisma Merdeka shopping complex yesterday, together with Faris’ grandparents and three-year-old brother.