Shop that's not a shop

The Singapore Parliament has just concluded its sitting. Like many Singaporeans, I didn't sit in on the proceedings to view history in the making (any decision that comes out of that haloed house is historic). So, besides watching the proceedings on TV news, I did the next best thing - visit the Parliament website.

That's how I found out that the Singapore Parliament website has a Parliament shop. But you can't really shop on this online shop. All it does is display a list of books related to the Parliament and some interesting souvenirs. The prices are quite afforable though, ranging from as low as $1 (a pen) to as high as $37 (a book on the Singapore Parliament written by Sumiko Tan).

Well, ok, so Parliament is not a shop. I can appreciate that, although I suspect that some would disagree, saying that, to a greater or lesser extent, it can be a place where "horse-trading" happens. The only thing is, we probably need more horse-traders who look at horses differently, if you know what I mean.

But why have the 'shop' in the first place, and why list products when you don't bother to inform people where they can be purchased? I assume they can be purchased since all the items comes with a tagged price. I've search through the website and have not found a single alphabet of advice where I can purchase the listed products. Some of the souvenirs are quite nice so its a pity.

There are some things in Parliament that still puzzles common folks like me. But I don't this this will be an issue in the coming General Election, whenever that is.