Parents make last-minute shopping for school supplies
KUALA LUMPUR: With the new school term starting on Thursday, parents in the federal capital are still busy preparing and making last-minute shopping for their children’s school needs.
Checks at several shopping malls in the city here found most parents were careful with their spending on their children’s school uniform, shoes, bags and stationery.
Mohd Sam Baharuddin, 48, who has four sons, came all the way from Bentong with his wife and children for this purpose.
“It has become an annual holiday-cumshopping trip for us. I prefer to shop for my children’s school needs here because of the ample choices and reasonable prices.
“My budget for this trip, including accommodation and food, is about RM700. So far, we have bought about 90% of what is needed for two of my children, who are in secondary school,” he said when met at the Hari-Hari clothing store.
Mohd Sam said he spent more on his children’s school supplies this year because the items were more expensive than in previous years.
“I spent RM150 on their shoes and socks, and RM200 on their school uniform,” he said, adding that he normally bought each child two pairs of school uniform.
Checks at the store found that the secondary school uniform for boys ranged from RM26.90 to RM46.90 per set, while it is between RM46.90 and RM49.90 per set for girls.
Shirts and trousers for primary school boys were priced from RM16.90 to RM39.90, and between RM33.90 and RM41.90 for girls.
At the Sogo shopping complex, Wendy Jack, 47, said she chose to shop at Sogo for variety and quality.
Wendy, who works at a private company, said she usually set aside RM500 for her nineyear-old daughter’s school supplies.
She also has a son, who is studying at the Royal Military College.
Another shopper, Vanitha Malar, 42, said she spent about RM1,500 on school supplies for her three children, aged six, nine and 11.
“I bought only the necessary stuff and always try to reduce our spending. As the children gets older, we have to spend more.
“Despite being more costly, the quality of some items like schools bags is not that good. They do not last long,” she said, adding that she had difficulties in getting a suitable size uniform for her daughters.
Schools in Kedah, Johor, Kelantan and
Terengganu will open on Wednesday, while those in Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya will start on Thursday. — Bernama