An eight-year-old Malaysian boy was reportedly left in tears after classmates allegedly mocked him for being picked up from school in a Perodua Axia.
The incident was shared by the boy’s aunt, who told mStar that she went to pick up her nephew from school as usual.
However, she immediately noticed something was wrong when he got into the car with red eyes, appearing to have been crying.
The aunt said she had given the Year Two student RM7 in pocket money that day as he did not have religious classes in the afternoon.
She believed the amount was more than enough for him to spend at school.
But shortly after getting into the car, the boy reportedly asked her a question that caught her completely off guard.
“Cik Su, are Abah and Umi poor?”
His aunt said she was shocked to hear the question and asked him what had happened.
The boy then allegedly told her that his classmates had called him poor because his aunt often picked him up in an Axia.
According to the woman, the children had mistaken her for the boy’s mother.
“I was truly lost for words when I found out that Year Two students could behave like that,” she wrote.
The incident prompted the aunt to remind parents about the importance of teaching children to respect others regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.
She also expressed concern that repeated remarks about a child’s family or financial background could affect their emotional wellbeing.
The aunt’s post has since highlighted concerns over how seemingly casual remarks among young children can leave a lasting impact on their classmates.
