Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
We recently talked about how Malaysia’s richest really live, but let’s narrow the focus down to their children – benefactors of wealth from a young age.
As we all know, money makes the world go round – but what happens when you grow up with wealthy parents? How does that affect your life and your chances of success?
Here are the ways in which their wealth enriches their lives:
1. They can do and be anything
Normal people are limited by time and money, and the same goes for normal kids. But rich kids? They’re limited by their parents’ wealth.
Ryan, a guy I knew from private school, failed to qualify for the pure science stream in Form 4. Yet he wanted to be a pharmacist despite his abysmal grades.
“My family is rich, I can do anything I want,” he told me.
Now he lives in the UK, working as a pharmacist.
Then there are another 2 I know – also not very academic, but they are both practising doctors. Their families had enough money to send them to Russia for med school.
When you’re that rich, you have no limitations. Money? That’s something you already have. Time? Easy to make time when you can afford to hire people to do the things you don’t want to do.
2. Allowances larger than your salary
Do you remember what it was like about 15 years ago before smartphones? You had to pick your phone based on the function you’ll be using the most: listening to music, the camera, etc.
I knew a guy in Form 3 who had multiple phones because of this. He also changed his phones frequently. Turns out he was receiving about RM1,200 a week from his parents for his allowance.
Most of the “cool” girls didn’t bring school bags to school either. They used designer handbags and carried their books in their arms.
The schoolgirls would also go shopping together after school. They would go to stores like Guess, Mango, Zara, Topshop, buying outfits that cost hundreds of Ringgit per item with their supplementary credit cards.
Their first cars weren’t Myvis either – many drove BMWs, Mercedes, and a few even received Hummers!
3. Travelling
Some of us who were fortunate enough may have gotten to travel a little bit, but rich kids have it way better (of course). Not only do their parents pay for them to travel, but they travel with other rich kid friends, going on trips together through places like Europe.
Some get to travel on an annual basis to exotic destinations, having the opportunity to travel through South America and such, with little regard for expense. Tina basically lives in Japan for months at a time to immerse herself in the culture so she can better learn the Japanese language, not having to worry about trivialities like academics or budget.
Rich kids have another added benefit: many of them have family members that are set up very well in developed countries, which makes it easier for them to travel there. Miranda spent many holidays in London, where her mother’s sister had lavish accommodations due to their privileged background, which allowed her to migrate there.
Intergenerational wealth pays off in many ways.
4. Job opportunities due to network
Rich kids mostly hang out with other rich kids, and sometimes they’re all family friends because they move in the same circles from a young age. They all live in the same places: Mont Kiara, Bukit Damansara, Sri Hartamas… This makes it easy for those who can afford to live in those areas to hang out with only other rich people.
They’re also very willing to help each other out. That’s how you get young achievers: they’re often lucky enough to start their career in exceptional circumstances, like skipping over the entry level roles to head towards management. A lot of it is due to the social network they’re exposed to from young, or the privilege of accessing their parents’ social networks.
Carrie, now an established practising lawyer, had gotten her start at the law firms of her parents’ friends. She interned there while studying and was given special treatment and personal attention from successful lawyers who were also from rich families.
Another acquaintance, Aminah, brags about being a young CEO who bought her own Mercedes car. She attributed her achievements to her hard work hustling and grinding – but those who know her are aware that the company belongs to her father.
#1 pro tip for getting far in your career: have a rich parent.
It’s easy to say that the key to success is hard work, when it’s more complicated than that. There are a lucky few who manage to get far on their own through their own effort, but unless you have a huge financial safety net, there has to come a time when you realise that your dreams can’t take you far.
Rich kids get to avoid that because they have all the ingredients for guaranteed success. And even if they don’t succeed, they have enough money to keep trying or switch things up.
Hard work can bring you nothing but failure, while money only breeds more money.
For more stories like this, read: Malaysians Think Private Schools Are Better – But Are They Really?, Malaysia Has An Ongoing Brain Drain Problem: This Is Everything You Need To Know About It, and Malaysian Income Inequality Is Getting Worse – What You Need To Know.
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