I have a Malaysian friend who is a Singaporean permanent resident. He recently got himself a Singaporean girlfriend who is from a wealthy family. He was so proud that he bragged about it to everyone he knew, and he assumed he was one class above local Singaporeans.
I was really confused when I heard this because my friend is not wealthy himself. He works as a delivery man and lives in a small rented flat. I couldn’t understand why he would think he was better than local Singaporeans just because he had a rich girlfriend.
I eventually confronted him about it and he told me that he was just proud of himself for being able to get a Singaporean girlfriend staying in a bungalow. He said that he was proud that he could prove himself to be worthy of her despite his financial situation.
At first, I understood what he was saying but then I started to think about it more deeply. I realized that my friend was actually insulting local Singaporeans by assuming that they were all less worthy of his girlfriend because they weren’t as wealthy as her.
It made me really angry because I’m a Singaporean myself and I know that there are so many amazing people in this country, regardless of their financial situation. It really bothered me that my friend was making such an assumption and belittling our local Singaporeans.
I EFF him and said that it was wrong to assume that someone was better than another just because of their financial situation. I also explained to him that Singaporeans come from all kinds of backgrounds and have different levels of wealth.
I also told him that it was wrong to assume that someone was better than him just because they had more money. I told him that it was about the person, not the money. I explained to him that it was wrong to judge someone based on their financial situation and that everyone has something unique to offer in a relationship.