All abuzz over school shoes
While some parents prefer black shoes for easy maintenance, others vouch for white shoes as a tool to instil a sense of responsibility in children. And some have asked for a grace period before the Education Ministry implements the black shoes ruling for students from next year.
BUKIT MERTAJAM: A school uniform shop in Taman Selamat here does not know what to do with its stock of white school shoes, now that schoolchildren are required to wear black shoes from next year.
Apart from the potential major loss, JQ Uniform Enterprise sales manager Quak Hup Guan was also worried about the impact on the environment should the white shoes be disposed of.
“More than 90% of school shoes sold are white shoes, and every year I sell about 3,000 of them.
“Manufacturers have begun the production of next year’s supply, while suppliers are about to ship more stock here,” he said.
Quak lamented that white shoes could not be turned into black shoes because they contained white rubber and plastic parts.
“The outsoles, toe caps and straps are made out of rubber and plastic.
“Imagine the amount of waste that would be created if all shops, suppliers and factories discard their stock,” he said.
Quak said if white shoes became obsolete, they would all go to waste.
“Nobody will buy them even at cheap prices,” he said, adding that shoe whiteners would also become worthless.
Meanwhile, the Federation Of Malaysia Chinese Guilds Association (Femacga) hoped the Education Ministry would consider giving students a grace period so that businesses could have some time to clear their current stock.
In a statement, it said many Femacga members complained that they were not notified of the decision earlier and had placed orders from overseas suppliers based on previous years’ demand.
“With the existing stock added in, they fear that the new policy would have a huge impact on their business,” it said.
Femacga added that businesses would adhere to government policies but hoped the Government would hold discussions with industry players to minimise their loss.
It added that it hoped the Education Minister would meet with those in the school shoe business soon so that the policy could be implemented on a win-win basis.