t ? SMU Publication: The Straits Times Date: 18 December 2005 Headline: $1,500 bag? I work for it

$1 7 500 bag? u

I work for it More teens are taking on holiday jobs to pay for coveted designer items b Carolyn Quek

UNDERGRADUATE Cheryl Lee, 20, gives W o n six hours a week while juggling her own studies.

She has a goal in mind: a $1,600 oakcoloured Mulberry handbag.

The second-year economics stu- dent at the National University of Singapore has been saving about $300 of the $520 she earns every month for the bag, and plans to buy it &om the British luxury brand's online site next year.

Cheryl is b u t up a cdlec- tion of brand-name bags. Last year, with her eamhgs as a tutor, she bought a $905 bag from C o d , an American 1- brand. She also receives a monthly allowance of $460 h m her parents.

"After working so hard for one year, I need something to reward myself with and to motivate myself further," she tells Gen Y.

She adds ''I believe m expen- sivebagandshoesfinishoffany outfit perfectly. If you wear some- thing simple, but you have a nice bag or a nice pair of shoes, it jazzes the outfit ap."

Nelson Lee, 18, who has been putting in long hours at various jobs over the school holidays, a h splurges on expensive designer items with the money he earns.

He gets a $300 monthly allow- ance from his parents, but they give him less - $200 - when he works.

In the past two ye-, the sec- ond-year student at Temasek Poly- technic's School of Interactive Me- dia Design has been a freelance graphic designer and sales execu- tive at a makeover studio. With the $600 or so he earned each month, he bought a 20GB Apple iPod, which cost $699 a year ago. Last month, he forked out $300

on an olive-green Agnes B Homme sling bag with the $2,400 he earned during the September and October break working at Guess.

More and more teens now have their eye on luxuries and choose to work for them.

They give tuition or work as sales assistants during the school holidays, earning the extra cash to splurge on designer items and ex- pensive electronic equipment like digital cameras and MP3 play-

N~saysWwork ingdur ing the school holidays to earn that spare bit of cash is "better than asking my parents for money".

"If I want to get something, I should e m it," he says.

His sentiments are shared by most of the eight teens Gen Y inter- viewed. All worked during their holidays and some into term time.

Larre Guo, 18, says: "It is better

thiswaybecauseifIboughtwhat1 wanted with the money my parents gave me, I would not treagure it as much as if I had earned it through my own effort."

He is waiting for his 0-level re- sults, and worked as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant at Suntec city during the March and June hdidsy breaks m 2003, earning $900 in to- taL Back then, he was getting $160 a month ikom his parents.

With that money, he bought a Sony PlayGtation 2. He is now looking for a job to help pay for driving lessas.

Nelson's classmate Roy Lim, 20, wants to supplement his $360 monthly allowance. For two ye=, he worked during school brealas at a Club 21 boutique, earning $1,000 to $1,200 a month. He left that in April, moving on to freelance graphic design work and part-time photography for a makeover stu-

know how long they have to work to make enough to buy (an expen- sive) item," he points out. '

His l%year-old daughter Sarah, a first-year fashion and design ap- parel student at Temasek Polytech- nic, worked during her school breaks as a boutique assistant

Her pay was about $1,000 a month, and she spent it shopping. The most expensive item she bought was a $100 pair of jeans from Topwhop. On the flipside, youths who

work mainly to support themselves fed that those who splurge on ex- pensive items should be prudent

Pang Xue Hui, 17, a first-year banWng and Stu- dent at Singapore Polytechnic, says young people cwld become too materialistic: "It's OK if they re- ward themselves once in a while for working so hard. But if they consistently pursue such stuff,

die, making up to $400 a month. He has bought brand-name

items from Tiffany, Agnes l3 Homme and Lot@ Vuitton.

Last week, he spent close to $900 on a matching pair of Louis VuStton white leather wrist bands as Christmas presents for himself and his girlfriend.

But Roy does not blow all his earnings on expensive designer items. He saves when he can: "I plan properly before buying expen- sive stuff and I don't just buy for the sake of buying. If there is noth- ing nice that I want to buy, I would save my money."

Parents say they have no objec- tion to their children working dur- ing their school breaks.

Cheryl's mother, Mrs M y Lee, 60, a full-time tutor, says: "One ad- vantage they gain is that they get to try different jobs and get a feel of the working environment." Mr Foo Siang Thee, 65, an engi-

neer, thinks it is good for teens to e m some money. "After all, they only earn $6 to $6 an hour, so they will feel the pinch because they

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then it's a bad thing." Sheworksasadeeawistantat

Polo Ralph Lauren after classes and earns about $600 a month. She takes care of all her expenses, in- cluding her transport and mobile phone bills, and does not take an allowance h m her parents.

"I don't want to burden them, as I have two younger siblings," she adds.

Second-year Singapore Manage- ment University accountancy stu- dent Faye Wong supports herself by choreographing dance moves for school choirs.

She earns $300 to $1,200 a month, depending on the projects she gets, and pays her expenses.

She says: "I feel perhaps such teens think only for the short term ... it's fine to reward yoUlBelf, but they should be redistic about de- ciding how to spend their money.

'They never know when their rainy day will come, so they should save more."