Meet Blair* (IV BFA AM), a girl who nonchalantly shares owning around fifty designer bags – YSL and a family of Chanel bags included. She shops in Hong Kong every couple of months to come back with three luggages full of newly bought clothes, 17 kilograms overweight of airport standards. You might even know her – she’s that girl who sported Prada in your high school. Remember?
Substance over labels
Before having his furniture, motorcycle, and textile importing businesses, Blair’s father was once an illegal immigrant who hitched a cargo ship to Hong Kong to work there as a messenger. Her mother, coming from a poor family, was a part-time teacher while studying accountancy. She’s now a real estate dealer and a farm owner – “where we get yummy mangoes and pineapples,” says Blair. Apparently, the tides have turned.
Splurging on an Hermès Birkin and jet-setting to Europe and South Africa are things that only girls like Blair can afford to do every so often. Life on the fab lane, however, doesn’t busy her enough to forget reaching out to others in need. “I always do charity work during my birthday month. I give to UNICEF,” says Blair. She also donates to orphanages, hospitals, and retirement homes. It’s helping others, she says, that gives her a non-material fulfillment out of wealth.
“During my last visit in Hong Kong, I was finally able to buy from the ‘clay man’,” says Blair, recounting her experience buying a clay pig sculpture from an old man in Causeway Bay. “I didn’t care that it was $25 and ugly,” she says. “I felt happier with that pig than my Hermès scarf.” Blair gave the pig to her boyfriend.
Nonchalantly livin’ it up
Just like any other student, Will* (IV BS MIS) rides the tricycle and eats in the caf. He wears slippers and basketball shorts to school, back in the dress code-less days. He usually orders the P50 crispy chicken fillet at McDonald’s.
Coincidentally, he’s also the same guy who uses six credit cards, including one Platinum. He spends up to more than P50,000 a month – cash and credit expenses combined – buying music CD’s, vinyl records, and clothes. He’s a relatively well-equipped music junkie, having bought $2,500 in DJ equipment.
Will recalls flying first class as a grade-schooler; the destination was Las Vegas. He stayed in a two-floor suite, complete with an elevator inside. Fast forward to college, Will is all about subtlety. “I’m not boastful with what I have,” says Will, “I’m not flashy in school.”
For Will, the term “exclusive” is becoming too hyped up nowadays. “Guest lists and VIP status are becoming so overrated. Everyone gets to be in the g-list now,” he says, admitting his detest for people who “suck up” to be on the guest list. “Puro porma lang sila (they’re just for show),” he adds. “They’re trying to be someone they’re not.” Take that from someone who’s always on the list.
All is fair in love and business
There’s no better way of spending summer break than bungee jumping in Queensland and getting seats for L.A. fashion week – at least for Audrey* (IV BFA ID). It’s either that or she’s shopping for Balenciaga in the Paragon in Singapore. Monetarily, she says, it’s not a big deal. “You can say that I was quite spoiled.”
When asked about luxuries that she has, Audrey says, “I’m not really sure, I never thought of that.” But with a walk-in closet full of upmarket labels, her habit of not repeating outfits, and a well-stocked vanity counter, the answers are obvious. Outside the closet, meanwhile, is a clothing business that Audrey and her shopaholic friends put up.
With a future inheritance and a house-and-lot combo under her name, one would wonder why she bothers to work at all. Truth is, she isn’t only working for money and security. “I want to acquire a living through my own endeavor [and] become successful with minimal to no direct help from my parents,” she says. She says it’s unfair when people surmise that she doesn’t have to work for anything.
Rich kids redefined
Wealthier parents have children with better home environments and fewer behavior problems than children from less wealthy homes, according to “Parental Wealth and Children Behavior Problems,” a research by Lori Ann Campbell for the American Sociological Association in 2007.
Campbell argues that differences in the behavior of those from wealthy families from those of less wealthy homes may be related to a lack of resources that promote child development. She says that this could potentially be related to stress that comes from financial instability and how parents cope with stress.
Whether this be an evenhanded hypothesis or not, Blair, Will, and Audrey prove that the rich kid lifestyle isn’t always an empty trite shell. Being charitable, living in modesty, and attempting to build a self-standing future are just some of the things that defy the preconceived notions of being born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth.
Being rich is continuously being redefined. And that just makes this crowd’s glam life all the more interesting to watch.
*Names have been changed to protect the individuals.
I personally think that this article is insensitive and too elitist, and I don’t think this sits well with a lot of the students who are trying hard to shed the Ateneo of its elitist label.
Furthermore, I don’t see this as constructive. Most Ateneans are rich anyway – why do we need to rub it in, especially to those who are in the Ateneo because of financial aid?
Nevertheless, to each his own. I just find this insensitive. Good day to you all and God Bless.