Are students from lower-income backgrounds these days more entitled?

Disclaimer: I am Gen Z myself

I’m sharing some observations I’ve made as a JC student who just graduated.

We all know that Singapore didn’t start out rich. Many people were in poverty. But studying hard could get you out of poverty. That was the case for my parents, some teachers and many of my elders. It was hard for them, but they never complained.

These days the story is different. I know a number of JC mates who are from a relatively lower socioeconomic class. They share one thing in common. They like to whine about their family situation, how they have no one to set their education path from young, everyone else having tuition but they can’t afford it, and so on.

I don’t doubt their lives aren’t easy. But they are already better than most Gen Xes. Last time few people went for tuition at all. This victim mentality never existed during my parents’ time. As much as I don’t want to call my own generation the strawberry generation, I must acknowledge it’s quite an appropriate label.

Netizens’ comments

Sorry but to me you are just an a-hole. You had the cards lined up for you since birth. You feel that they are flaunting that they made it even though their families aren’t well off and that made your “achievement” less significant. I think you are deeply insecure and should either reflect or seek therapy for it.

“The only time you look in your neighbor’s bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don’t look in your neighbor’s bowl to see if you have as much as them.” ― Louis C.K.

Honestly, it’s pretty rude to see someone worse off than you complaining and label them “whining” or ungrateful. It may be their only way of coping, by vocalizing it.Before you say “well all they do is whine, they don’t try to change their situation”, try to understand that these kinds of things have a million factors. Someone born into poverty has the deck stacked against them.It’s easy to say “just study harder” when you have a nice home and a conducive environment to study in. I’ve met people who were in school, working a part-time job, and taking care of all their siblings all while juggling schoolwork and projects. Do you think they can just study harder?