‘Pay your own uni fees and give us a third of your salary’ — Singaporean man’s parents say

SINGAPORE: After an online user asked on a forum, ‘Are parents obligated to cover their child’s university fees?’ one man responded that his parents once told him that children in Singapore are supposed to pay for the uni fees themselves and even give their parents a portion of their salary later in life.

“I’m not sure what type of tradition this is, but my parents said that this was the right way,” he said. “My parents expected my siblings and I to pay our own fees, and that was what we did. They also expected us to give them a third of our salary. When my elder sibling got married, they also took all the red packets.”

Despite all this, he admitted that he didn’t completely resent the arrangement. “I kinda… feel alright about it? Now that we’re the ones giving them money, they have nothing to ‘threaten’ us with. So when we quarrel, they don’t yell at us with ‘we raised you’ and ‘fed you’ anymore.”

However, he confessed to feeling bitter whenever he heard about parents who opened savings accounts for their children, setting aside their Chinese New Year red packets for their future.

“My parents took all of ours, along with our remaining weekly allowance when we were young. so we basically really started off with $0,” he said.

“If parents can clearly afford it, then they should pay.”

Other users in the comments section also shared their take on whether parents should be responsible for covering their children’s university fees.

Some strongly believed that if the parents have the financial means, they should cover the cost of their children’s education, arguing that burdening young adults with debt at the start of their careers was unfair.

One said, “If parents can clearly afford it, then they should pay. Why burden your kids before they even graduate? If parents cannot afford, then really bo bian, kids have to take up study loans and part-time jobs.”

Another commented, “I intend to cover my kid’s local university fees so that my kid can focus on studying and not have to juggle jobs to make payments.”

However, not everyone shared the sentiment. Some users felt that university education should be a personal financial responsibility, even if parents had the means to help.

One shared, “My parents could afford mine, but to them, a degree is optional. So, if I wanted one, I had to take a bank loan—and I did. I understood their stance; a lot of things can take a turn; it’s better to keep that stash of $ for emergencies because parents are getting old and stuff. Ultimately, I cleared the debt within a year after I got my job as a fresh grad”

Another agreed, saying, “In Singapore, students can either apply for study loans or pay via their own/parents’ capital (which the student will need to pay back via topping up the account later). Kids need to start learning these responsibilities instead of relying on parents/government.”

In other news, a woman took to social media to open up about the severe toll her job has taken on her mental health, revealing that she has been crying “almost every day” ever since her job responsibilities changed.

In her post on the r/askSingapore subreddit, she explained that she had “initially performed well in her operational role”, but everything changed with her new job scope.

Read more: Woman confesses she’s been ‘crying almost every day’ ever since her job responsibilities changed, also shares her boss shouts and rolls his eyes at her

Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)