Condos, landed property, helpers, chauffeurs, overseas trips: Woman’s post about growing up privileged in SG goes viral

SINGAPORE: A recent video about growing up wealthy in Singapore has gone viral, with the content creator listing all the things she took for granted and accepted as normal when she was a child.

While some commenters acknowledged that actress Erica Lee had recognised the privilege she had grown up with, others found it hard to relate.

@ericaleeyq

don’t come at me for this 🫣 #privilege #tiktoksg #eliteschools #elite #rich

♬ original sound – Erica Lee YQ 李璎芩 – Erica Lee YQ 李璎芩

Ms Lee started her video by talking about a Social Studies class she had when she was eight years old, when she had a textbook that said 90 per cent of Singaporeans lived in HDB housing, while 10 per cent lived in either a condominium or landed property.

When her teacher asked the class about where the students lived, however, out of a class of 30, only one student said she lived in an HDB flat, while everyone else stayed in a condo or landed property.

This prompted one of the students to tell the teacher that they thought the textbook was wrong and that the statistic should be the other way around, which Ms Lee also admitted she believed at that point.

Ms Lee went on to say that she and her classmates had chauffeurs and helpers who regularly picked them up from school, instead of their parents. Sometimes, it wasn’t even a question of who was picking them up but in which car they would be brought home—their dad’s, mom’s, or the family vehicle.

She and her classmates also took for granted that every school holiday would be spent on an overseas trip, regularly asking each other where they had gone on vacation.

“And so our school holidays just kind of equalled going overseas,” Ms Lee added.

She also talked about the “crazy” and “next level” birthday parties she attended as a child, where there were balloon sculptures, bouncy castles, and cosplayers dressed as Disney princesses.

Because all these were normal for her, she thought they were normal for all Singaporeans.

Ms Lee’s video, which she posted on Instagram and Facebook, has gotten over 200,000 views, and a lot of commenters have weighed in with their two cents regarding what she shared.

Some underlined how important it is for children from wealthy families to do volunteer work and have friends from different backgrounds.

“This is great self-reflection. Next step: realising that Singapore as a whole is a privileged environment,” an IG user commented.

“It’s perfectly fine to be privileged and live in luxury. Just be thankful and be kind to those who are not. Nothing wrong with the way you grew up, as you would eventually learn the truth and reality about the world around you anyway. How you perceive and treat others after learning that reality is what matters,” wrote another. /TISG

Read also: ‘Not everyone is as privileged as them’: 21 y/o uni student says she’s being pressured by wealthy peers to travel overseas despite struggling financially