KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the festive period, consumers appear to have scaled back on spending due to the high cost of living.
Checks by theSun at several major shopping malls in the Klang Valley for the past few days found most customers were cautious eventhough there were sales offering various items at discounted rates.
Additionally, some members of the public including cab drivers noted that the Chinese New Year celebrations this year were not as grand as in previous years.
Izrul H. Zakaria, operational manager for Second Cup, a newly-established cafe said, sales leading up to the festive period have been relatively slow.
"There could be a few reasons behind it, for instance, some people are saving up," he said.
"Occupancy rates at places like Quill Mall along Jalan Sultan Ismail and Starling Mall at Damansara Uptown, are still down, although the latter was just opened recently and is 30% occupied for now.
"The economy is bad (and) with prices of goods going up, this affects spending power of consumers," he added.
Thea Topaz, an administrator expressed suprise at the muted celebrations, saying that this year most of her friends returned to their home towns which included Ipoh, Penang and Johor.