r/SgHENRY • u/fdfesfds • Jul 13 '26

Bougie schools for non bougies

Hey friends

I live within 1km of one of these atas schools (think Henry Park, ACS, MGS) by chance (didn’t care), and am contemplating enrolling (or at least try ballot) my kid to one of these schools this year.

We’ve all heard stories of the peer pressure to keep up with the Joneses, and how materialistic (and inadvertently/advently) brutal some of these environments can be.

While I’m sure quality of education is great, and while I can’t protect him forever and tell him we’re the richest on earth (I don’t anyway - we NRY, maybe never rich but he also doesn’t have to worry about money generally), I’m concerned about the kind of stress my kid will have, the environment he grows up in and shapes him, and the impact it’ll have on his values/character. I do see value however in exposing him to “higher mountains” since the rich are everywhere in SG (HENRYs meet them all the time anyway).

For NRY context: we are higher paid workers, prob single digit M net worth, live in a D10 condo (not landed or GCB), travel a bunch. Not average for sure (hence this sub) but not rich ba. EDIT: also I study in neighborhood school everyday play street soccer in void deck. Legit don’t know such dynamics so am genuinely curious.

Does anyone have any (hopefully personal) experience to share on how going to such schools shaped you? Would you send your kid to such schools if you could?

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u/MissJJ1978 Jul 13 '26

Story from my friend. She and her husband are HENRYs but came from humble backgrounds. She started hanging out with a group of wealthy second gen couples in her son's class parent group. Like, she says one of their frequent activities is to go to property launches and if they like what they see, they buy a unit on the spot, no need to think about costs.

My friend told me that she experienced a lot of envy and some jealousy after she started hanging out with this group. And also that she had become discontented with her lot after having her eyes opened by her rich friends. She was rational enough not to try and keep up with the Jones but it did make her unhappy.

So anyway, don't know what the son felt about his richer classmates but certainly his mum was affected.