There were two recent stories that got my attention and I wanted to discuss in this article.
The first involves 17-year-old Filipino-Singaporean Tiktokker Zoe Gabriel, who became one of social media’s flavor of the week when her video thanking her dad for buying her an 80 SGD Charles and Keith bag was bashed by some overly-privileged and highly insensitive members of humanity for using the word “luxury” to describe the bag.
There was this girl, thanking her dad for giving her a bag she had always wanted in a Tiktok, who made the mortal sin of using the term “luxury” for an item which retails at 80 SGD (around 3,312.24 PHP according to our helpful friend Google). While there were some positive remarks from decent people, others openly mocked her in the comments, comparing her description of the bag to “calling a fast-food restaurant fine dining” and taking the time to highlight fashion brands that didn’t have a similar price point but typically wouldn’t be described as luxury.
What made Zoe stand out was how she stood up against the bullies. In her video response, where she appeared to fight back tears, she explained why she used the L word. “Growing up, I did not have a lot. My family didn’t have a lot. We couldn’t buy things a simple as bread,” she said.
“Your comment spoke volumes on how ignorant you seem because of your wealth. To you, an $80 bag may not be a luxury. For me and my family it is a lot, and I’m so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money. I can’t believe I got hate over a bag that I was so excited to have.”
Her mature response that didn’t resort to the usual Pinoy-style theatrics met an overwhelmingly positive response, receiving over 2.1 million views and almost 200 thousand likes.
The post had gone viral and Charles and Keith, a Singapore-based brand, noticed and naturally took immediate action. Zoe and her dad were invited to the headquarters, given a tour and showered with attention and gifts while the haters could only hate.
This story of a young “influencer” has three lessons.
First. It is bad form to mock someone else’s happiness. Learn from this story, don’t be that asshole.
Second. Stand up to bullying. If you fight with dignity, you might even walk away with a win.
Third. Luxury is relative. Zoe got the attention of the nitpicking haters when she called her dad’s gift a luxury bag. Sadly, those people no longer understand the true meaning of luxury due to their privileged lifestyles. They only have the narrowest definition of the term, which equates it to the monetary value of a product. However, for the rest of us who have different life experiences and needs, luxury could be anything special that makes us feel good. In the case of this newspaper editor, my definition of luxury at this stage in life is a leisurely non-Saturday dinner date with my lovely wife, because it is something we have not been able to do ever since this job fell on my lap. That has become priceless for someone like me and if anyone wants to disagree with that particular definition of luxury, fight me.
If you come to think of it, the second story that got my attention also involves luxury, which in this country now, sadly involves anything onion-related.
At least ten PAL crewmembers are apparently in hot water with the Bureau of Customs after being caught with nearly 40kg of onions and fruits, which were confiscated by the BOC upon arrival in the country.
Here is the breakdown: PAL crewmembers from a flight from Riyadh were caught with 11.5kg onions and 6kg lemons, while another group from Dubai were caught with 15.5kg onions, 4.5kg lemons, a kilo of strawberries and blueberries. The total value is a whopping $250.
If you come to think of it, nearly 40kg of “contraband” divided by at least 10 crewmembers is not even 4kg per “smuggler”, which is well within their baggage allowance, and if you ask me, well within their rights because their government cannot even provide its people with the basic onion. And yet, they were somehow caught, the good were confiscated and they might face “appropriate legal action”, all because we live in a country where onions are more expensive than meat and a kilo costs more than the minimum daily wage. Well, if you look at the bright side, at least we have a BOC that’s hell bent on doing its job to make up for a Department of Agriculture that apparently can’t do anything.
In the end, Zoie Gabriel is still fortunate because she and her family have migrated to Singapore, where her dad can now buy her a nice bag because their existence is no longer a hand-to-mouth one because of a government that works as it should. And while there are drawbacks with the affluence that makes it a place where its people are so well off that they can mock a girl who considers her Charles and Keith bag as a luxury item, at least the price of basic goods like onions there won’t be allowed to reached luxury levels yet, ala our beloved Philippines.*
