Determined to get the shirt for his son, the father said he began cutting back on daily necessities — drinking less coffee, eating fewer mixed rice meals, and settling for bread for lunch on some days.
A Malaysian father’s financial struggles over purchasing a RM49.90 shirt for his son ahead of Chinese New Year have recently gone viral.
In a Facebook post, the father shared that his seven-year-old son had asked if he could buy a new shirt for the festive season.
“The price tag? RM49.90. Not a branded item. Not trendy. Just a plain, ordinary shirt.”
However, he said he was unable to purchase the shirt immediately.
Why?
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Every month, his RM5,000 salary is eaten up by obligations — car and housing loans, utilities, internet and phone bills. With Chinese New Year approaching, there were also ang paos to prepare, festive groceries to buy, and visits to parents, for which turning up empty-handed was not an option.
After listing all his expenses, the amount left over was not meant for “living expenses”.
It was “survival money”.
Determined to get the shirt for his son, the father said he began cutting back on daily necessities — drinking less coffee, eating fewer mixed rice meals, and settling for bread for lunch on some days.
“I’m not trying to sell a sob story. This is genuinely how tight things are.”
A month later, he finally saved enough to buy the RM49.90 shirt. His son was overjoyed, but for the father, the moment was bittersweet.
“It’s not that the shirt was expensive,” he said.
“It’s just that RM5,000 in today’s world doesn’t go far enough. We’re not overspending — the cost of living is simply moving faster than our wages.”
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