Pangkor Island Beach Resort, an island getaway, with RM75++ buffets is something I am clearly not economically ready for.
The breakfast buffets, priced at RM40++ burst with the temptng aromas of scrambled eggs and sausages, whilst the delightful visuals of fried tomatoes, toast, small croissants combine with the prospect of endless mugs of filter coffee to tempt.
Any weary eyed sleepy person doing the zombie walk away from slumber might be forgiven for having a moment of near surrender.
Afterall, a coffee is RM8, that’s almost RM10 when you include tax, so technically two coffees would be RM20, add on another two and you have an
endlessly refilling treasure chest of gratifyingly tasty morning buffet grub.
Of course, I doubt I’l have four coffees and survive without needing to pee all day in a state of unwanted caffeine buzz, and don’t forget the ++ of the RM40. That’d bring it up to MORE THAN the sky-high and unacceptable price of RM40.
Of course this is all coming from someone who probably doesn’t belong here anyway.
Anyone who earns a RM1900 a month basic and already irresponsibly sacrifices insurance for a coffee addiction should know that walking into a timewarp of beach paradise (complete with wild hornbills hopping around the 'bread' tree at tea time), comes with conditions.
Nothing is for free, not Paradise, not morning buffets, not the Pangkor Island Beach Resort.
I must admit the resort would’t have been my first choice with every fibre of my instinct calling for a cheaper more modest option in line with my economic stature, however this last minute holiday idea was of course worth it due to the (incidentally) little amount of investment needed from me, good company and gorgeous scenery.
It does serve as a reminder however that ultimately the world is divided, into the definetly do not haves, the maybe have somes and the simple have lots.
I guess I would be in the socio-economic middle ground, where prospects in terms of socio-economic mobility are abundant if your the kind of person that ‘makes things happen’.
I wonder however if I ever did cross over to the comfortable end of the world’s two polar income caps whether I would still cringe at the RM75++buffet dinners.
I guess taking a morally indignant position is the kind of thing that foolish idealists do, ultmately its logic that prevails in the animal kingdom and other realms.
It may be offensive to my sense of fairness to think that the system doesn’t guarantee ‘justice’ or an ‘equitable’ distribution of wealth, but ultimately is what happens oustide the delusional and skewered view of the world in our heads.
Big ass walruses get most of the sex, the bullies get more than their fair share, and the meek probably won’t inherit the earth.
Its all about the prevailing dynamics of social strategies, and once we reach balance its always the pushers that will reap, the killer hawks that will subdue.
Thats not to say that this reality doesn’t piss me off, because I am not inclined to ‘make things happen’ and don’t really have a strong motivation to ‘cross over’.
But being realistic about things helps reduce the stress it takes to be indignant and angry, and helps you appreciate your surroundings for the curious manifestation of complex hidden forces that they are.
