APRIL 4 — We’ve all felt it, seen it on social media and ranted about it — that nagging sense that products aren’t quite the size they used to be.
The chicken drumstick in your hand seems more like a sparrow’s leg than the meaty treat it used to be.
It’s almost as if the birds have been shrinking over the decades.
In-flight meals these days barely qualify as a snack. I was on a flight last month, and absolutely could not believe the portion served.
Imagine the average plate of nasi goreng daging at any shop in KL, now remove 70 per cent of what is on your plate. I kid you not.
Any more examples you can think of? Burger patties? Battery lives? Shoe sturdiness? Sofa comfort? Toothpaste quantity? Coffee servings?
Welcome to the age of shrinkflation — where less becomes the new normal, and we’re all left wondering if our eyes are deceiving us or if the world is shrinking.
Capitalism may be pulling a slow one over consumers, such that over time we’re getting less and less despite paying (obviously!) more and more.
Whatever the reason, be it cost-cutting or efficiency or “optimisation of resources” or what-not, the problem is that consumers are often left with a lot less than what used to be the case (despite, again, paying somewhat more than we used to years ago).
Even hotels seem to be playing this game. Check-in times creep later — sometimes 4pm or past that — while check-out sometimes gets pushed earlier than noon.
At universities, quality learning-time is dwindling too, what with (in some cases) exploding student numbers, limited-capacity classrooms and overworked lecturers.
I often wonder what constitutes a “learning event” nowadays, with half the class scrolling through TikTok, the professor reading from his less-than-super-exciting slides and both parties hoping time will fly faster. (And don’t even get me started on the shrinking quality of students’ work).
Even jobs and employers may offer workers less (in terms of benefits and opportunities) nowadays for the same (or even lower) pay.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist
