What is luxury to you?

Imagine purchasing something you like with your hard-earned intern pay and receiving hate online for calling it a luxury. The definition of luxury differs across social classes. For students like us or people who come from a low-to-middle-income background, our first US$60 bag might be our first luxury purchase.

Last week, a Singaporean-Filipino teen Zoe Gabriel posted a TikTok video sharing a Charles & Keith bag that her father had gifted to her. She was very excited to unwrap and share about the bag. The on-screen caption for the video read, “My first luxury bag”. However, she was later mocked by netizens for referring to the US$60 bag as “luxury”. Critics likened her comments to calling a fast-food restaurant fine dining.

Gabriel came from a modest and humble family. Growing up, Gabriel could not afford simple items such as bread from BreadTalk. The comments highlighted the differing opinions on luxury, especially those from different social classes. Gabriel responded to the hate online, “Your comment spoke volumes on how ignorant you seem because of your wealth. To you, a US$80 bag may not be a luxury. For me and my family, it is a lot.”

Gabriel and her father were later invited to the Charles & Keith headquarters to have lunch with the company’s founders. The company’s founders shared that they also came from “humble beginnings”.

Gabriel’s story reminds us to be kind and compassionate to those around us. It is important to put ourselves in the shoes of others before making judgments about them.

Read more: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3206945/meet-tiktokker-who-went-viral-her-us60-luxury-bag-singaporean-filipino-teen-zoe-gabriel-defended-her