Will Honesty Stalls work here?

One interesting thing that I’ve come across in England was the concept of honesty stalls. I’ve seen one on the way to Minehead and another in the town of Watchet.

Honesty stall.
Honesty stall.

Honesty Stall.
Eggs for honest people.

Honesty stalls are basically stalls selling vegetables and other goodies. What differentiates an honesty stall from the conventional stall is that they’re no people manning the stalls. To pay for your goods, all you have to do is slip the money into the mailbox and that’s it.

Mailbox.
The cash register is the hole in the door.

To be honest, I just could not imagine such concept to ever take off in our country. Can you? The level of civility in England really amazed me, the way people give way while driving or walking and even something as basic as picking up their dogs’ poops from the street. Sure, the council estates are supposedly scary but seriously, it’s really nothing compared to our housing estates with its sky-rocketing snatch theft crimes.

Were they ringgits?
Were they ringgits?

It’s really funny hearing the Babi warning against chinese being jews and taking over the country. It’s like hello, you think we like to live in this shithole of a country? I’d much rather migrate to any of the Top 10 cities in the world. They welcome young, capable adults like us with open arms. The ONLY reason we’re staying here and take your stupid shit is because our parents and elder family members are here and are (unfortunately) sentimentally attached to this country for reasons unbeknownst to me.

BN. PKR. SAME SHIT DIFFERENT PARTIES. SAME DODGY CORRUPTIVE ASSHOLES. This country is heading for the shithole.

You people who are abroad now. Just stay there and be happy don’t come back to this hot, hopeless shit.

42 thoughts on “Will Honesty Stalls work here?”

  1. oh… ive seen similar ones in the hostel in usm which i used to stay in…. selling nasi lemak, apollo, keropok etc… and its stated there “MAKANLAH MAKANAN YANG HALAL”… and also smthing like “no one saw u curi but GOD did”…or some holy quotations.. =p

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  3. I’ve seen these types of stalls in rural areas. The kampung folks place their goods in a small shed with a tin or whatever for you to place money in. It worked back then, i don’t know about now.. cuz been taking highways n giving those roads a miss.

    i think only in big cities ppl are much less civilised.

  4. as much as the country sickens me, there’re a lot of stuf that makes it hard for me to immigrate.

    i guess we just place more importance on the stuf that matters to us more. like great food 24/7 and family :D

  5. If stalls like this is in the city. I think can only survive 3 days, yes? no? I think it’s only applicable in rural areas anywhere in the world.

    Relax la, politic is dirty.

  6. “You people who are abroad now. Just stay there and be happy don’t come back to this hot, hopeless shit.”

    And here I am, missing this country (and its food) terribly. :(

    I was in Sweden last week, and I was amazed at how much the people there trust others. The reception area had a counter selling local postcards. And the reception is only manned till like 5pm. And the postcards and maps and what not are still placed there with signs saying “please pay at the reception”. I mean, if you do this in this country, in a blink of an eye, they would be all gone!

    And here in Italy where I reside now, they have this system where you weigh your own veg/fruit at the supermarkets. They have a code for that particular product, so you weigh your stuff and punch in the code, take the sticker that is dispensed and pay for it at the checkout counter. I mean, the first time I saw it, I was like huh???? what if I punch in the code of something else? something that is much much cheaper? No one will know also. But I guess thats trust.

    Dont think it would work back home in this country. Sad though.

  7. We have honesty vending machines. You put the money in and the machine starts to move and the packet of chips doesn’t fall out, so you have to beat the crap out of them till the chips fall to where you can pick the packet out of the machine through a little door. Then, someone tells you off for attacking the machine, and you say, ‘It wasn’t me. Honest!’ :-)

  8. It’s not going to work over here. I’ve seen the same concept in NZ with the newspapers e.g. drop in a coin and the entire cover opens, and you take one copy (although you can take the entire stack if you want to). It works in some countries, doubt it would over here. Not that I lack faith in our countrymen…

    …er, actually that’s exactly what I lack. ;)

  9. In the East Coast states, there’s variations of this Honesty Stall. In some kampungs, the villagers place their produce such as vegetables at their doorstep. Customers picks it up, check against a small price list and pay up. Of course, there are still people who did not. Don’t think it’ll work in KL though.

    Politics is dirty. Will always be. But, leaving this country is not easy. Like you said, BN or PKR, same shit, different parties. I just go on with my life and try to not let politics affect my life.

  10. These “honesty” stalls are a litmus test of a society’s stage of development and maturity.While we may criticize the West for their moral decline etc,the truth of the matter is we are light years behind in civil behaviour eg in lining up,courteous driving etc.The newspaper boxes referred to by Huai Bin, I do not see how it can work in this country or even in Singapore.Can you imagine our kiasu neighbours grabbing just on copy of the newspaper? Here in Toronto, there are thousands of these boxes used by very civil citizens everyday.

  11. try walking in inner city uk at nite for a change.. grass always greener on the other side..

    but at the end of the day, its where ur happy that counts

  12. Hi
    I came across your page here by total accident. I looked it over. Looked at your pics, I must say you are very very beautiful. I love what see and read on your page. If I keep looking at your eyes i’m going to fall in love which might be to late lol
    Anyway just wanted to say HI and let you know how WOW you are.
    Oh cute lil doggie to.
    B
    Bryan78Johnson@aol.com

  13. i’d honestly pay ;)
    if you drive through kampungs, it happens a lot. there are many fruit stalls along the roadside, and to stop and take the lot would be like taking candy from a child.

  14. Bryan – That’s nothing. You should have seen her eyes before the sex change! You could just melt into them. :-)

    *runs before Kimberley beats me to death*

  15. it’s like the time i was in perth and the way they paid their toll.
    there was no bar, and no one taking care of the toll
    all there was , was a huge white cloth bag for people to throw the money in as stated and drove on.

    i wondered too , if it would work in kl.
    but.. the answer i came up with was

    “probably next morning whole bag also missing lah”

  16. Haha I seriously doubt it’ll work here, not to mention the bag, and stuff, but yea, sad to say, this nation are people of low moral integrity. Just look at the way people drive car around this country, or try to get on the LRT. Maybe I’m just biased :P but yea, I have always admired the western countries where at most places, people are friendly and polite.

  17. I know that our generation deplores the lack of political sensibility in this country, but to see such a post on a well-respected blog is… surprising. I find your last few paragraphs disrespectful of the uneasy racial scenario here, and I do wish that it was perhaps phrased a bit more delicately.

    The phrase “shithole of a country” is offensive, both to you and the people who live here on a daily basis. We often make fun of this country and its people, and though they more than often have a modicum of truth, they also are said in a fondly tolerant manner that makes it bearable.

    I often have to defend my country and her actions to foreigners, who don’t understand her peculiarities, but to have to defend it to a fellow countrymen is horrifying.

    Please understand that I am not pointing a finger and crying foulplay; neither am I denying you the right to freedom of speech. I am merely sad that my country, who could be so great if given the right leadership and the proper support from her people, is so denied in the grand scheme of things.

  18. the grass is indeed always greener on the other side. i’ve had first hand experience with the estates in the UK. trust me, getting stoned (seriously) by lil’ kids about 7-8 years old, as their parents watch with arms folded, is no fun indeed. and it wasn’t even racism. we (including my british mates) were picked on just because we were uni students, never mind that we were minding our own business and not even causing a din.

  19. Whilst it’s flattering you hold such a high opinion of my country, I have to agree with others here that it is a somewhat unfair comparison, and more than a little rose-tinted.

    Firstly, such stalls would not succeed in every part of the UK. In rural areas, perhaps, but not in a town of any size – they would be abused as much as any place in your country you could name.

    Secondly, I would sadly argue that civility and good manners in the UK in general is very much on the decline.

    My own city has a high number of your country’s students; in contrast to many locals of an equivalent age and background, they are polite, articulate and far more mature in outlook.

  20. Not too sure if New York’s in the Top 10 cities in the world, but the honesty stall concept will never survive here either! (Although Huai Bin’s NZ newspaper box exists here, and isn’t too frequently taken advantage of…). Petty theft occurs all the time (and more so in large cities), especially where anonymity is prevalent… and priorities are set where the individual precedes community, materialism before morals…

    And if there was anything that would draw me back home… it would be the people, the food, and the fact that it’s where I inhaled my first pocket of air (polluted or otherwise!).

  21. ah grass is always greener on the other side, oi so cliched lah! i’ve worked in singapore and i’ve travelled extensively before so i KNOW the grass is NEVER greener.

    yeah i agree honesty stalls will only work in kampungs and not the city. even in UK it’s only in small towns and the countrysides.

    nur: while like you, i disagree with how this country is run but the difference between you and i was that (at the point when this post was written) i did not hold any endearment to it. i had loved to leave this country and be treated like a second class citizen in another country, at least i’d have an excuse there.

    i have to admit, the outburst was written while i was in an place where i felt my position/privilege/rights as the citizen of this country was utterly and completely useless to me and my family for a personal matter. the nature of our personal matter if it had occurred in a different country would not have even been an issue to its citizen, so this has really driven me to a point where i couldn’t endear myself to this country.

    what do i have that i could defend this country which is threatening to ruin my family life? good food? and..and what? racial harmony? why are we still reassuring ourselves every time about this in 2008? what racial scenario are we having exactly? we know for a fact that there will be NO more racial clashes like 13 May and we will ever still have silly banters about each other’s race/religions behind each others backs, FOREVER. the truth is, calling the chinese jews would have been funny if he had only meant it as a part of a clever speech and not some sort of “warning”. and nobody really cares about the fella making the silly comment, it’s just nice to see a corrupted fella like him get thrown out of the government even if it has to be done on a silly basis like “inciting racial sentiments”.

    anyway, i don’t want to explain further regarding my further personal matter. while i implore you that if you can leave this country, leave and if you’re already abroad, please stay, I apologise for using such harsh words to express my thoughts about this place and please don’t take offence. i really hope i’d be able to change my tune one day about this country one day.

    mh: sorry for your bad experience. the council estates can be quite unnerving. i was staying in one for a short while but fortunately for myself i did not come across any of those sort of thing. my former lecturer of indian descent recalled being called a paki there :(

    half: it’s sad that moral decline and civility in uk is on a decline, but this country’s people unfortunately is going downhill as well. hehe you should see them students when they’re back in their own country then :)

  22. Whilst we’re definitely more civilised in England as a whole, your impression of people making way and picking up dog poo doesn’t apply to those living in London!

    I’m not sure if you’ve been to this city, but be prepared to get shoved out of your way and some times shoulder-barged. Then again, most of those are tourists! ;)

  23. Imagine no possessions..
    I wonder if you can..
    No need for greed or hunger..
    A brotherhood of man..
    Imagine all the people..
    Sharing all the world…

  24. I thought in one of your earlier post you stated, this country is not such a bad place and the status quo was good enough for you that you felt no need to vote in the general election.
    still stand by it?

    there is this saying about evil to take over is for good people to do nothing or words to that effect…..

  25. jonathan: i haven’t been to london. i heard it’s not very friendly hehe.

    dabs: lol

    yum: people with the right aspirations die early.

    eksk: yeah the status quo was fine by me, in fact i prefer the country how it’s like before the GE. can i say that all this bullshit is thanks to the opp ruffling whatever feathers they can? maybe. i really wonder why the opposition is not shadowing/observing the government but is constantly being a pain the ass (no pun intended) trying to “take over the current government”. can i say not another power-crazed-idiot?

    will this bullshit pass and lead to a better country (better than pre-GE)? i sure hope so, but at this rate where both parties are being led by crooks….i shall reserve my vote till the right people come up. and sorry, not familliar with that saying.

  26. hmm not ruffling the government.. in other words the opposition should shut up and take the shit the govt dishes out.. pendatang should keep their mouth shut got it…. accept the unspoken rule of not disobeying the govt ..

    Just a question? how does the right person come up accepting the status quo?

  27. eksk: yes they should SHUT THE FUCK UP and work. dont just talk talk talk talk and pointing fingers. in fact all our politicians should eat a lil bit of stfu themselves. anyone talking about strengthening the nation’s economy, eradicating poverty, raising civic consciousness and actually fixing the problem of brain drain? this race shit thing is overrated, stupid and a complete waste of saliva and time. i liked the status quo…if you are so unsatisfied with it, why don’t YOU go out and make a difference? you voted? oh yes then you must be such a gawd damn hero ARENT YOU? as for me, i’ll appreciate if you just let me keep on working on leaving this damn place as soon as i can, kthxbai.

  28. ” The ONLY reason we’re staying here and take your stupid shit ” You don’t even regard this country as YOUR OWN addressing YOUR as others. That’s the point.. by thinking that you’re not even malaysian or wish that you were not would make them think .. ” see? they dont even wanna be malaysians so why would we regards them as part of us? ..” think please before u speak. i’m a chinese myself but i’m ashamed of your post as a fellow malaysian and i do think thats disrespectful to other races as well. You critisized that politician for making that remarks. You’re just the same..
    i’m a chinese, a doctor working in dublin. and i’m a proud malaysian.

  29. opportunities are everywhere. go as far as u want , get rich. the late lim goh tong made a hell lot of money here in malaysia. doesnt matter where you are. my mom told me my grandparents were poor and they came to malaya to work and things went well and now me and my siblings are all well educated . i wonder if my grandparents didnt leave china, i guess i would be born in china and probably riding bicycle and not being who i am now. just be thankful . grass is not always greener outside. my cousin who is a chinese australian has been living there all his life , attended public school and now working there and he keeps getting racist remarks. be grateful instead of wishing u were born somewhere else cos ull never know if it would be any better.

    1. christina: thanks for your comment christina. But if you think that this is about money or success or opportunities, you’re wrong. I totally subscribe to your opinion that you can make something of yourself no matter where you are and personally i think i’m doing pretty decently in this country. My post is admittedly harsh and it’s in reference to difficulties i’m facing in my personal life due to some of the government’s policies. I’d like to explain clearer but i’m not comfortable to air my private matters here, all i can do is rant. You are not in my shoes and you can’t possibly understand what i’m going through. anyway, why are your serving in dublin, as you know we are extremely short of doctors here.

  30. At 1st i was imppressed with Kimberly’s post.We should try to do this in Malaysia.But then, after a few para..well,u know.

    So,..

    This country is a now a pig-shithole just because it is tropical hot and infested with Malays??even though that so-called ‘shitty policy’ was manipulated by a small number of elitist UMNOputra who actually were backed-up and supported by Chinese MCA for 51 years?(i think ur grandparent also voted for MCA for those years.Just asked them)

    and ironically, u still blamed the Malays and called us as Babi (pig)..?

    i wonder why :
    1) most of the anti-UMNO+ISA protestors we saw in the street of KL are Malays?
    2)most of the ISA detainess are Malay Moslem?
    3) The People of Kelantan (The so-called ‘backward state’ because ‘infested’ by Malays) have the guts enough to changed their vote from UMNO to PAS?

    and why,
    1) The People of Penang( the so-called ‘progressive+beautiful’ state because the majority are Chinese) took so long to voted out BN’s Gerakan eventhough the Chinese are claimed to be ‘tortured+discrimate+marginalized+oppresed’ by the UMNO’s led BN Government?

    and how,
    1) LIM GOH TONG, VINCENT TAN,Robert Kuok and many Chinese tycoons can gained billions from UMNO thru that ‘shitty- NEP policy’?
    2) and how those chinese tycoons and UMNO helps each others?

    and you still called us the Malays as babi(PIG?)?

    Honestly, we Malays only have obsession with ‘Motherland’ and not much of ‘tribal mentality’ as Chinese does. We also believed in this word of
    ” Buang Yang Keruh,Ambil Yang Jernih”..which simply means..” Clean Out The Shit”..so that’s why we wont leave the ‘shithole’ until its clean.And that’s what we’re trying to do now..to clean the ‘shit’ in this country 1st.You may join the ‘cleaning process’ but if you want to leave,nobody will stop you to do so but please, dont insult my country and my people ,in front of the world because as a back-stabber and chicken-out whinners, you dont deserved to talk bad about my country.

    Anyway, since the Majority of non-Malays wont take part in that ‘cleaning process’ and run away, i guess it depends solely to ordinary Malays to fight this war against the UMNOelitist Malays.It always been that way.We are born fighters, not born whinners..

    btw, as this is an English Website that can be read worldwide, i ‘appreciated’ the ‘promotion’ u gave for my beloved country,Malaysia.It is really ‘good’ for tourism and FDI.

    I am Malaysian and a patriot..but because im a malay, ‘They'(who we regards as a friends) called us Babi(pig) at our back..So,Welcome to Malaysia.

    Sekian, Salam Muhibbah

    Assalamualaikum(Peace be Upon You) to you, doesnt matter what your race or religions.

  31. zaifree: when this post was published, Babi was refering to that single politician who asked chinese to stop taking over the country like Jews. if you’re too ignorant about the comments made by our local politicians, i can’t do anything. if you prefer to think that i’m a racist and that i’m singling out a race for the problems faced by this country, then i think you’ve insulted my intelligence. if that politican can call me a Jew, why can’t I call him Babi, i hope you see my point. but as I’ve tried to clarify over and over again, this is about my disappointment towards the country at THAT point of time and this harsh post was a result of that disappointment. i can’t take this post down anymore because I want to honour what I’ve said although I acknowledge the fact that I could have word this post in a more politically correct way.

  32. Dear Kimberly yang cun (in fact, u r really cun n hot..i just saw ur pic)

    Im not ignorant about any statements made by our politicians.I am aware that Ahmad Ismail (Penang UMNO) who made that racist remarks recently.
    I ponder the issue back to you because from the way you expressed the comment.Maybe im not really good to read in English, but it seems like you blamed this country and generalizing a single certain ‘race’ for what that idiot politician said. After all, he is from the ‘Untouchable-Ultra power Malay of UMNO’,so what do you expected from an UMNO politician?? Do you really takes his words seriously?c’mon..even the Malays think that his words are totally rubbish and lame.Same goes to other UMNOputras leaders.UMNO is a joke.At one time they shout for MUHIBBAH and unity but at sametime they make those racist remarks,especially to the Chinese and also, at the same time ,they gave alot of opportunity to the Chinese Businessmen. Sounds twisted, rite?So, for that case, u can call him and the rest of UMNOPUTRA as Babi.(hey, its not only you that called them babi,the Malays also called those traitors as babi but in more gentle word,..we called them KHINZIR)

    Again,about BABI issue..yes,you didnt called the rest of the Malays as Babi in ur posting but i found an “interesting numbers” of Malaysian Chinese (MC) like to call Malays as 豬 (zhu) in their blogs or net forum. So, it shows how large population of MC still ignorant about the real roots of the problem and just love to blame the Malays and then, of coz,they fled away like u.Bringing those misconceptions together.

    And my job as gomen servant takes me to the Parliament frequenstly,especially the Dewan Rakyat or ‘the circus’ or ‘the zoo’ or whatever you want to call it.These UMNOputras are really ‘natural-born-clowns’so we shouldnt take it seriously.I enjoyed the session where i can see all the Government servicemen from all races sit together in that ‘Pegawai Bertugas’ (Officer on Duty) box. We just laugh everytime those ‘Bozos’ shouting about Malay Rights issue and then being retaliated back by Opposition,especially DAP.Its like watching a real live TV soap drama. After the session, the officers went for a drink together and none of us take note of what those clowns said, because they’re just politicians..

    and imagine this..
    Multi-racial officers from one Government sit and having tea together after a hot racial issues??…you wont find it in other top 10 countries or elsewhere.Only in this ‘Shithole’ of Malaysia.

    FYI ,im working in a ‘semi-government’ agency that helps our Malaysian exporters (which is mostly Malaysian Chinese enterprises) to promote their product and services overseas.We also offer grants(millions of RM) to them so they could compete with the world market.Out of 66 companies that being awarded with Branding Grants last year, only 10 are Malay companies and the rest are Malaysian Chinese holding companies. FYI again, this agency is ‘infested’ with Malay servicemen and women.We only see the colours of our Malaysian Flag and not the skin colour of our local exporters.

    As a Malay,i wont dare to insult or question a Chinese’s intelligence and smartness.It is inside your genes,rite?(‘Someone’ claimed that before)..Instead, you are the one who have to preserve your own intelligence by not going outburst when you heard any remarks from those UMNOputras..They just trying sooo hard to be the HERO for the Malays..so get it?

    PKR,PAS or DAP..we neither love them nor hate them..but we need them for the ‘check and balance’.

    Kimberlycun Said:
    “..You people who are abroad now. Just stay there and be happy don’t come back to this hot, hopeless shit…”

    Can you really differentiate between a country and a Ruling Party?Even though i am working in this shitty administration but my mindset said,im working for my country..doing the best for Her.We re trying so hard to get those tourist and investors to come to Malaysia which in the ends will benefits our people(especially Malaysian Chinese business people) and your statements above is not helping ,but actually ‘killing’ Malaysian. Its offensive,not only to me but to all Malaysian.

    The reason why i comment on this post is because we still love you as a fellow Malaysian(well ,if u still a Malaysian la..)

    PS:please dont take this post down.It is your right to express how you think and feel.

    “..I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it…”(Voltaire)

    Sekian ,Salam Muhibbah

    Assalamualaikum..

  33. what a quaint idea! an honesty stall (: (: obviously it wouldn’t work here. majority of malaysians don’t exactly have very community-conscious mind(set)s. it’s sad but oh well. very well-written post. i would say APPLAUSE is in order.

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