Organic-Ally

For some reason I didn't have time to read the MM's message on (not) retiring till late last week. I drafted a response to his comments and sent it off to The Straits Times on Sunday. Today I received their unusually prompt reply that they are not running it. So this is it: a view from the social anthropologist who researched ageing for her PhD thesis. I also made reference to my stint as a factory worker when I was working on my Master's degree. Us social anthroplogists do a lot of 'participant observation'. =============== If we push the argument that ‘retirement means death, don’t stop working’ to the limit, a possible result would be people won’t start working in the first place. In my research I found that the happiest old people are those who are able to ‘age gracefully’. They accept that their bodies age, their eyes grow dim, their hearing deteriorates, and strength seeps away, little by little. They are always finding a new ‘equilibrium’ as they go through ...

I have a problem most other women would like. When my husband comes shopping with me – in real life, via catalogue or online when I really need to have something replaced – and I chance upon something nice and have difficulty deciding between one colour or another, his response is always, “Have both. Or all three.” As a result there are a few things in my wardrobe and coat cupboard which I have not yet been able to wear because of this. But things are getting better. I have learned to arm myself with some useful phrases when I shop with husband, or to remind myself when shopping alone. For clothes shopping, useful anti-buying mantras are: 1) “Do I really need another of those?” When one coat could see me between or over two seasons, just the one will do. If there is a very similar item in the wardrobe, just the one will do. Do I need another hat, another pair of gloves, another this or that? Do I really, really need another one of those? 2) “There’s no room in my wardrobe.” For a long ...

Another letter has been prepared in response to the MM's comment on retirement. It will be interesting to see whether it gets published, and which platform it might land on. It goes onto this blog if the papers refuse to run it. Back to Organic-Ally .

Outside my door sits a catalogue for some household products left by 'Ian' two weeks ago. Looks like Ian has forgotten to collect his catalogue or he has given up on selling. I was first introduced to this form of selling/buying when I first came to this country, O, some 15 years ago. This chap dropped off this catalogue. I found some things useful in there and ordered. He delivered. I paid by cheque. We chatted and he told me that his wife was expecting and he wanted to make some extra money. These catalogues kept coming, but they were never from the same person. I quickly figured that while the big company will always make a profit from what it sells, the little persons dropping and collecting the catalogues cannot be making enough money to make this a worthwhile second income. But it does not matter to the big company. So long as there are people out there hoping to make some commission and doing the legwork for them, products will be shifted. I've been thinking of tryin...

My latest 'claim to fame' is 'taking on' the former Prime Minister of Singapore (now known as 'Minister Mentor') on the issue of graciousness. A funny thing happened, really. I sent a response to the MM's comment to The Straits Times Forum page. I was contacted by someone from my paper , a new bi-lingual newspaper within the same Straits Times stable. I was told that The Straits Times will not be running my letter, would I like to see it published in the new free newspaper with a 'circulation' of 300,000? The letter was published, edited of course, and which you could read here (reproduced below) not in my paper , but in asionone , another publication in the of Straits Times stable, yes. My letter was reproduced in another paper without my permission. (I'm editing this on 24th January 2008: The edited letter was in fact first published in my paper but I cannot insert a link here, and chanced upon my letter in asiaone . Hope this makes it ...

It has been a busier than expected year-end for me. I am not complaining. In fact it was very exciting and rewarding. I did notice that in the real shops, prices were being slashed before Christmas and I wondered what the effect that would have on the profit margin. According to M&S: not so good. Anyway the crazy sales continue and I must confess that I have taken the opportunity to buy a few things that I need, thinking ahead. So for customers who do read this blog my apologies for not being able to offer a massive post-Christmas sale at Organic-Ally. What I've done was to keep prices low BEFORE Christmas, knowing that I would need to put up prices after that. My Canadian supplier has put up both retail and wholesale prices by 15%, but my wholesale discount has gone down instead of up. In other words I have to pay more for less. The currency exchange rate also means I am being further disadvantaged. Other overheads are also going up all the time. I hope to remain economically ...