‘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

SINGAPORE: “Why is it so hard for people to understand that not everyone is as privileged as them?”

A 21-year-old university student recently raised this question on social media after her wealthy peers kept “pressuring her to go abroad with them.”

Having been broke her entire life, the woman wrote that she simply cannot afford to travel at the moment, as every penny she earns from her part-time jobs goes towards paying her university fees or covering her daily expenses.

The student added that although she has explained to her peers many times that she cannot afford to join them because of her financial struggles, they have never accepted or understood her situation. Instead, they allegedly only told her, “At our age, we’re supposed to have S$X in savings, why can’t you travel with us when you work part-time a lot?”

“They even had the cheek to ask me how many countries I have gone to and why I am not travelling during my free time,” she continued.

Furthermore, unlike her peers whose parents pay for everything and fund their comfortable lifestyles, the student said she has to start saving now because her parents have made it clear that if anything goes wrong, she will be completely on her own, as they have nothing set aside for her.

To make matters worse, her parents have already told her that they plan to retire the moment she starts working full-time, which means she will not only have to support herself but also take financial responsibility for them. 

“I feel so suffocated and stressed because I’m struggling in Uni and I haven’t made any real friends,”  she expressed. 

“I’m always worrying about money, and school has been so bad I wanna break down. I’ve been ignoring their texts lately because it feels like no matter what I say, they won’t be able to understand. I don’t have many friends, so I don’t know who can I even talk to,” she wrote at the end of her post.

“Friends are supposed to be supportive.”

In the comments under her post, many people told the young woman to ignore her friends’ insensitive remarks and not to let anyone pressure her into doing something she cannot afford.

A few also encouraged her to surround herself with friends who are more understanding and supportive.

“If you feel like your finances are struggling and don’t want to go out with your friends. Just do it. Don’t join them,” one individual said. “And ask yourself, will you regret in the future for not joining? If the answer is no, just do it. If the answer is yes, then don’t do it. Friends come and go. True friends will always understand your situation and be there to support you and not manipulate you.”

Another commented, “Please… you need better friends and honestly even no friends is better than them.”

A third added, “Friends are supposed to be supportive and uplift you because that’s what they are there for, if they constantly make you feel bad and misunderstood, I don’t think it’s helpful for neither of you in the long run…I understand the loneliness that comes with it, but please know that there are better people out there that you haven’t meet yet. Stay strong!”

In other news, a frustrated local turned to social media to ask if young professionals these days are being lowballed and pressured into taking salaries (S$2,500-S$3,000) that haven’t changed much in the past 20 years.

“Is this starting salary really as low as 20 years ago?” the local wrote on the r/singaporejobs subreddit on Thursday (Oct 16). “I see some people saying that their starting salary was S$3,000/mo when they graduated many years ago. Numbers please. What did you make? How many years ago?”

Read more: Local asks if fresh grads are still being paid the ‘same as 20 years ago’ — Is Singapore’s job market cheating a generation?