JAKARTA, INDONESIA - The popularity of malls as the top hangout place for urban families is one trend that model Arzetti Bilbina is determined to avoid.

Arzetti says she avoids malls for all sort of reasons, including because she believes they encourage a consumerist lifestyle.

“I’m trying to avoid malls, whether just for a walk or for eating,” says Arzetti. “I’m afraid my children will become consumerist, as they ask [me] to buy things for them [at the malls],” she adds.

The model says that she herself learned the dangers of buying too much the hard way.

“When I was a kid, I could buy so many things with just Rp 1,000,” she says. “But today, that’s impossible. [Walking around a mall] in one day, you can spend at least Rp 1 million.”

With malls being out, Arzetti says she prefers to take her three children on trips outside the city.

The reason, she adds, is that traveling together can strengthen the bond between parents and children.

Jakarta Post/Asia News Network