How I was brought up as a “poor kid”

Patrick Wu
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

People back home think I’m the “rich kid”, because my parents sent me to one of the most expensive countries to study. To be honest, “rich” is a really subjective word, how much is “rich”? One million? One billion? If anyone’s idea of “rich” is being able to send their kid abroad, then sure, I guess I’m the “rich kid”. But I’d like to think my family is well-off, but we’re far from “rich”.

I really wasn’t the “rich kid” when I was growing up, I had no idea where we belonged in society, I didn’t have a clue what “upper-class” and “middle-class” are. To a kid that young, there is no class difference.

Though I can see the difference between my family and my playmates’ families. My dad was and still is a very frugal man, I never had the chance to live a lavish life, I didn’t get to buy toys (Think of gameboy, PSP), I didn’t get to buy clothes (Almost all of my clothes from elementary years were given to me by my mother’s sister), I didn’t even get to buy drinks if I wanted to. That’s how frugal my old man is. I remember I envied my friends who had PSP, they could play with their own PSPs on excursions, damn!

I was not very confident, I still am not, because I always thought my family was below average, we were not “rich”, that’s what I thought.

I was also very humble and modest when spending money, because I knew I was not the “rich kid”.

Then things started to change when I became older. My parents sent me to Singapore, to which I was astonished, because I never thought we could afford it.

I traveled overseas a couple times. I started to buy myself nice things, some of them are not exactly cheap, to my surprise, my dad didn’t bat an eye. I started to treat people to meals, not to feel superior, but to show my appreciations for them, dad didn’t bat an eye. In fact, he encourages me to do so.

I changed a lot in the past few years, but essentially, I didn’t change a thing. I still possess some of the traits my younger self has, I’m still very modest when spending money, compared to my peers.

Almost a decade later, I finally can appreciate the way I was brought up, and I can finally realize how wise my dad is, because I could not think of a better way to raise my children.

I don’t usually listen to my dad, but I remember what he once said, he said to me:

“You should be able to eat the cheapest meal but still have the etiquette and graces to dine at the finest restaurant.”

That is literally the wisest thing I’ve ever heard. A man should be able to endure the harshest conditions and yet he can have the graces normally seen from the upper-class.

Salute to you, dad.

Patrick Wu

Patrick Wu

Written by

A twenty-year-old who overthinks. I have an inadequate body and a troubled mind.

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