There are two things I realized. First, the stuff offered was not superlative in terms of quality, of course, and neither was it inferior. You wouldn't expect something of supreme condition with such negotiable prices. Second, everywhere I looked, there were only less than five items that were really on sale up to 70 percent. And they were not even the "hot" items. The rest were just between the 10 percent and 30 percent ranges, with 35 percent max. And that was just half the promise of 70 percent. What was all this about?

Is it the hunger for discounted items that clearly blinds us as consumers that leads to us tolerating this blatant misrepresentation? Or has it become a part of universal agreement that advertising is tolerated in conducting such a fraud in order to make money, money and more money? Furthermore, I got myself thinking, how does this "bilking" impact on our modern life?

The enhancement in technology may result in the enhancement in efficiency. Everything is easier and more easily conveyed in life, but in reality, it gets more complicated. How would you know that things are real and not counterfeit? How would you know that a person is telling you the truth instead of a lie? What would you do if everything you considered to be right was wrong?

My friend dropped by last month and complained about a fake BlackBerry he bought six months ago, which initially shocked me. "How did you know that your BlackBerry was counterfeit?" I asked. He answered me, "Just take a look at the keypad. It's Q-W-E-R-T-Z, instead of Q-W-E-R-T-Y." Who would've noticed?! And worse, he paid the same amount as for an original one.

The more demoralizing fact: do you know how good, good advertising can be? It can curtail your disbelief and the next thing you know; BAM, you are a firm believer in the product.

Let's just see another example, schools. Schools are now goldmines. The dignified institution first designed to educate and to value the inviolability of knowledge has now been a profitable idea. They can charge you a surprising (meaning huge) amount of money in exchange for excellent educators and facilities. I don't blame the idea, because it's true. You want something "good"; you'll have to pay "good" money as well. Unfortunately, "bilking' now exists at every level of our society. Nothing is pure and just exactly the way it has to be anymore.

We may never be able to change the order of things but we can be more vigilant, as consumers and as human beings. Being more cautious will minimize the chance of being bilked and by reflecting all your actions towards others, you will too help protect others from being bilked by those irresponsible fraudsters.

- Yoz Tanuwiria

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