No escaping from Chinese porducts

By Low Ching Ling July 15, 2007

For five days last week, I barred China and China-made products from my life. It was an experiment to see how pervasive the products of the world's factory have become in our lives.

TAKING OVER

American journalist Sara Bongiorni embarked on a boycott for a whole year in 2005 because she was sick of China 'taking over' her home.

Though she succeeded, life without anything 'Made in China' became an ordeal for her and her family as they struggled to find cheaper, and sometimes, better alternatives to China-made products.

My experiment was sparked by the current product-safety crisis in China, and Singapore's hopes of a Free Trade Agreement with Beijing.

For years, the factory of the world has helped consumers like you and me stretch our dollars by churning out cheap goods.

But is it possible to live without the world's fourth-biggest economy?

Most of the time, my China embargo succeeded. But it made my life difficult.

Almost as soon as I woke up, China was in my face - literally. I spent five minutes rummaging through my drawers for a face towel of non-Chinese origin. Another five minutes for the bath towel.

When I suggested to my mother that she should shop for new towels, she groused: 'All the neighbourhood shops sell towels from China.'

I peeped under the standing fan and the words 'Made in PRC' stared right back at me.

I left my beloved iPod (assembled in China) at home and broke the monotony of my daily train journey by eavesdropping on my fellow commuters' conversations.

I gave the China-made Panasonic phone at home the cold shoulder, even when it was ringing off the hook.

I was ecstatic my TV and DVD player were made in Korea, but moaned when I saw the three tiny words at the back of the remote controls.

I boycotted my mother's cooking because she insisted on using the made-in-China Maggi soya sauce.

One hawker gave me a dirty look when I asked where his ingredients were from.

I vetoed a colleague's suggestion to go to a restaurant serving food from Putian (a city in Fujian province). I thought it might be rude to ask the waitresses from China if they use ingredients from their homeland.

I gave up shopping. I knew the pair of shoes I had been eyeing and the camera memory card I wanted to buy were born in China factories.

Almost every corner I turned, China lurked - under my shoes, on my lip balm, at the back of my notebook.

I tried my best to avoid anything off the assembly belt from the Asian giant - but still got unwittingly snared.

I found out that the longans and chicken rice sauce were imported from China - after I had eaten them.

Some things I couldn't help.

Like charging my Taiwan-made handphone with the China-made charger.

Or working on my Made-in-China Hewlett-Packard office laptop on which I wrote this article. (I thought it was a good excuse to boycott work for five days but my boss, known for his sardonic wit, complimented me on my sense of humour).

After five days, I threw in the towel. I simply missed China too much.

I missed my iPod. I missed being a channel-surfing couch potato. I missed my mother's cooking.
Sure, it's possible to shut the door on China if you try really, really hard - and if you don't mind burning a hole in your pocket to buy costlier things made elsewhere, or if you enjoy making life difficult for yourself.

Maybe I won't eat seafood from China or buy China-made toothpaste, but that's as far as I'd go to keep China out of my life.

I have never been to mainland China (Hong Kong was as close as I got).

But during my very brief experiment, I discovered that China has been in my life for a long time now, and will be, inextricably and possibly, forever.

The reality is China, as a growing economic and political power, cannot be avoided in a globalised economy.

But that does not give it the right to give the world shoddy products.

THE ANSWER?

The answer, however, is not protectionism.

Mr Suan Teck Kin, a regional economist at United Overseas Bank, said: 'Most of the big American companies have a presence in China. They make their products there and sell them to other parts of the world, including the US.

'Protectionist moves will only hurt its own consumers, who are also the voters, and they will then have to pay higher prices for goods.

'Sure, you can ban China products. But where do you find replacements? In such a globalised economy, how do you find alternatives to satisfy your consumers?

What the Chinese need to do is show the rest of the world it is serious in tackling its product-safety crisis.

Authorities say efforts are already under way with an overhaul of food-safety regulations and revamp of its top drug regulator.

And in its strongest signal yet, it executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog on Tuesday for accepting bribes to approve untested medicine.

Yes, buyers beware.

But until we're willing to give up our iPods, cheap shoes and remote controls, China will always be indispensable to our lives.