Good or bad…

We were a British colony during those days when I was a kid – I was already 11 years old when Malaysia came about. All the while, we had the idea drummed into our heads that anything that was made in England would be good and anything made in Japan would spoil in a few days, similar to the general opinion of things made in China these days.

Even in this present day and time, I would hear quite frequently that certain products, still available in the shops, are no longer as nice as those in the past, the ones made in the UK…and there may be some truth in that but I do feel it goes across the board. Generally, things these days aren’t as good as the ones long ago when they were made to last and they did not shortchange buyers on quality…but I am sure many would want to disagree and I would not argue and defend my case. I guess there are two sides to the coin – there may be some good in certain things and some bad in others.

Let’s take those imported biscuits, for instance. I love the Scottish shortbread…

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…from the UK but I’m not particularly fond of the ones from Australia though the ones from Butterfingers are pretty nice…

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I used to enjoy those Danish cookies as well but lately, I find that they’re mighty expensive and somehow, they do not seem as great as before anymore. Personally, I would prefer the All-Butter Viennese from Marks & Spencer…

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There have been other imported biscuits that I’ve bought but I can’t actually put my finger on any that swept me off my feet. There have been good ones and there have been others that aren’t really great either. Like the other day, I bought these…

…and it was more because I loved the tin a lot…plus they were not all that expensive – I think it was in the region of RM4.00-Rm6.00, I cannot remember exactly now, not as expensive as the more popular brands. I did not read the label there and then but it turned out that they were made in Indonesia…

…and they were quite nice, not too bad at all – a bit too sweet for me but I loved the vanilla fragrance. However, they were nothing like those Scottish shortbread or Danish butter cookies and came across more or less like any other biscuits including the Malaysian-made ones. In fact, I do enjoy our Tiger brand ones which would be cheaper and just as nice. Anyway, I still love the tin (that seems very airtight too) and at least, I get to keep that.

That same time when I bought the aforementioned, I also came across these…

…and they were made in the UK all right, no mistake about that and since they were over RM4.00 a packet, not too pricey as well, I decided to give them a try. Unfortunately, the malted milk ones were nothing sensational – again, I would prefer our own Tiger ones…while the oaties were not that great either – I’ve always loved our Jacob’s ones and I would think they are very much creamier and nicer than these.

To sum up, I do feel, therefore, that not all that are imported are necessarily superior and some of our own may be just as nice or may even be better (and cheaper too) but like I said earlier, there are two sides to a coin and different people have different taste buds so what some people may feel is good, others may think otherwise…and vice versa.