Jakarta – Despite condemning shopping malls as a source of consumerism, Governor Fauzi Bowo said everybody should be grateful for their existence because they have provided a lot of jobs.

"Malls can harbor a workforce comprising the lowest to the highest levels. Thus we should be grateful for this fact instead," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He also said that shopping malls should be treated as tourist attractions that could allow the government to boost the city's economy.

"Just like Hong Kong and Singapore, which have less space than us, have been able to boost their tourism through shopping malls and we should be able to take the same direction," he said.