This confession was shared with me. As someone who’s part of the “old-money,” perhaps it would be meaningful to hear my side of the story. For context, my grandparents were landowners in Selangor. They owned thousands of acres of palm plantations, a big chunk of it was later acquired for a fortune to be used for development. My father (an only child) sold everything else and moved to Singapore when my grandparents died. He then invested in commercial buildings, mostly around Robertson Quay. My mom and dad are Ivy League educated (Columbia) and my sister and I also went to Columbia (undergrad and grad school). I worked for McKinsey in New York for 3 years, earned an MBA, and I now run the family business. My sister has a law degree and she’s working for Biglaw in NYC.
I understand that all of this doesn’t bode very well with the meritocracy in Singapore, but that’s for another day.
We have never spent more than $1000 on a meal, ever. Growing up, we ate at hawker centers all the time. My didn’t let us have McDonald’s until we were teens. I had my first McDonald’s during my first year at Hwa Chong. I wore the same backpack since I was 10 until I graduated JC. By which point one of the straps had been broken for at least 2-3 years. My dad wears a G-Shock, and I have never gotten myself a watch. My mom wears a Burberry, which is the furthest she’ll go. I don’t know about member’s lounges or private clubs. Never flew anything more than premium economy. I flew Scoot more times than I remember. My dad had a Camry when I was born, which he later upgraded to a Lexus. Since then he has never driven anything more than a Lexus. Our family owns two cars. An Lexus LS, and an RX. I bought my first car early this year. It’s a Camry.
We live on University Road opposite Botanic Gardens. A GCB yes, but if it didn’t hold its value it wouldn’t be justified. We’re also the oldest-looking house on our street. It’s only one story. The house was built in the early 70s. We’ve not skimped ensuring that everything works. So the house is perfectly functional.
I think the whole divide is not between the haves and have nots. It’s mainly about those who are secure and those with inferiority complexes. I think those who have had money for far longer than one generation would probably think of OP as naff. My grandfather said once: “If you’re rich, you don’t need to show it; if you’re poor, you have nothing to show; the only ones who do are the insecure.” My dad absolutely hates people (rich or poor) who are ostentatious. After a certain point, spending more on something doesn’t really give you much more satisfaction beyond just showing off. I see a lot of people coming into new money from very humble backgrounds who are far too eager to uncover the secret lives of the ultra rich. From what I see, OP is living in an imagined reality.
I grew up with kids from other wealthy families in real estate and every one of them tend to be indistinguishable from your typical middle-class family. Few things that give us away—our property and our academic background. Otherwise we tend to be surprisingly plebian. Not once has anyone in my family been interviewed about our lifestyle because it will probably reveal the truth that a lot of families at our level are not nearly as glamorous as people imagine we are. If there’s a curve with glamour on the y-axis and wealth on the x-axis, my opinion is it will resemble something similar to a Laffer Curve.
You want to know who the true rich people are? Probably any young person in their 20s who say they are “in real estate” not as a property agent despite graduating with a degree that could have landed them a 6-figure salary. It is likely that they are in line for an absolutely fortune. But don’t be perplexed that they are the cheapest and most down-to-earth people you’ve ever met.
The world of luxury isn’t created for the ultra rich. They tend to be far too pragmatic to be interested in waste.