Starting university can be expensive, especially when you are trying to prepare everything before your financial aid comes in.
One Malaysian student recently shared her frustration after her father questioned why she had not given him any money from her part time salary, despite her earning only a three digit amount each month.
In a post, the student explained that she had taken up part time work before starting her degree and was trying to save as much as possible for university expenses.
Bought an iPad using her own savings
According to the student, she had been working part time for a short period and did not earn much from the job.
However, after saving for some time and adding part of her salary, she managed to purchase an iPad using her own money.
She said the device would make her work easier and would also be useful once university started.
Other university necessities were also purchased using her own savings.
As for tuition fees, she said her father would be paying for them, which she felt was part of his responsibility as a parent.
“If I feel like buying something, I will use my own money.”
Dad asked why she never gave him any salary
Things became uncomfortable when her father apparently pointed out that despite earning a salary, she had never given any of it to him.
The comment left her feeling hurt.
She explained that it was not because she did not want to give her father money, but because the amount she had was barely enough for her upcoming university expenses.
She estimated that the items needed for university alone had already cost more than RM600.
She also wanted to keep some money for daily expenses while waiting for her PTPTN funds to come in.
According to her, her father would sometimes give her RM50 for spending money and expect the amount to last for an extended period.
She also claimed that he had previously suggested eating eggs to save money.
‘I already knew this would happen’
The student said she had anticipated facing financial difficulties once university started, which was why she decided to work and save beforehand.
She recalled previously surviving on the allowance she received while studying in matriculation.
Rather than waiting until university started to worry about money, she said she had already been thinking about ways to reduce her financial burden.
One commenter said she was still studying and should focus on managing her own expenses first, adding that she could consider giving money to her parents after securing a stable career.
Another commenter suggested explaining to her father that the part time job was mainly meant to help cover her university living expenses.
For the student, the situation appeared to be less about refusing to contribute and more about trying to make her limited savings last once university begins.
