Photo: TikTok / Farhana Zahra (Composite)
Most of us were lucky to have gotten the doll or toy car we wanted on our fifth birthday, but then again, most of us were not the daughters and sons of a multi-millionaire. Had we been, we would have gotten the car of our dreams instead – like this 5-year-old kid did earlier this month.
File this under "rich people do outrageous stuff." A new viral video is getting people hot under the collar and itchy in the fingers. As it so happens, it is somehow related to our area of interest since it involves a brand-new Mercedes G-Wagen, custom ordered for its new owner.
This G-Wagen is in the news because the owner is a 5-year-old girl who only got it as her motivation to stay in school and continue her education to become a doctor. The girl is the second child of Malaysian businesswoman Farhana Zahra, famous in her native country for her wealth and the outrageous ways she chooses to show it off. She's a show-off, is what we're saying.
Earlier this month, Zahra posted a video in which she was talking with her daughter Fatima about her refusal to return to school after a short illness. Fatima argued that she was too young to attend school, but her mother wouldn't hear of it. Instead, she asked Fatima what it would take to get her back to school, to which the little girl replied that she wanted either a green Mercedes G-Wagen or a BMW, preferably in the same color. She may be young, but she knows what she wants.
On her fifth birthday, Fatima got her wish: a dusty green G-Wagen wrapped in ribbons, surrounded by balloons, inside a transparent case up on a trailer. Not a toy, but a real car, delivered on the flatbed to its apparently not-very-enthusiastic new owner. The video posted by Zahra showed Fatima's underwhelming but not surprising reaction to the gift (she is only 5, after all!) and included the message that getting her wish granted would serve as motivation to continue with her education.
The intention is admirable, no doubt about it, but it's the execution that's getting people upset. Getting a brand new car – an SUV, no less – as a present for a 5-year-old kid is akin to throwing your cash into the garbage bin because the kid won't be able to enjoy it, nor appreciate it in any way. At best, it's a gift you give yourself because you, the parent, will be doing all the driving. But you'll still be "depriving" your kid of a nice birthday present.
Zahra is no stranger to controversy on social media. A skeptic could even conclude that the multi-millionaire is courting it intentionally to get clicks because she does it way too often for it to be a coincidence.
In the past, Zahra came under fire for posting videos of herself withdrawing as much as $500,000 in cash and filling duffel bags with it, and once, for complaining about how a Lamborghini was a poor choice for a daily driver because you could only fit $500K into its trunk. Where should a rich woman put the other $2 million? she asked.
This G-Wagen is in the news because the owner is a 5-year-old girl who only got it as her motivation to stay in school and continue her education to become a doctor. The girl is the second child of Malaysian businesswoman Farhana Zahra, famous in her native country for her wealth and the outrageous ways she chooses to show it off. She's a show-off, is what we're saying.
Earlier this month, Zahra posted a video in which she was talking with her daughter Fatima about her refusal to return to school after a short illness. Fatima argued that she was too young to attend school, but her mother wouldn't hear of it. Instead, she asked Fatima what it would take to get her back to school, to which the little girl replied that she wanted either a green Mercedes G-Wagen or a BMW, preferably in the same color. She may be young, but she knows what she wants.
On her fifth birthday, Fatima got her wish: a dusty green G-Wagen wrapped in ribbons, surrounded by balloons, inside a transparent case up on a trailer. Not a toy, but a real car, delivered on the flatbed to its apparently not-very-enthusiastic new owner. The video posted by Zahra showed Fatima's underwhelming but not surprising reaction to the gift (she is only 5, after all!) and included the message that getting her wish granted would serve as motivation to continue with her education.
The intention is admirable, no doubt about it, but it's the execution that's getting people upset. Getting a brand new car – an SUV, no less – as a present for a 5-year-old kid is akin to throwing your cash into the garbage bin because the kid won't be able to enjoy it, nor appreciate it in any way. At best, it's a gift you give yourself because you, the parent, will be doing all the driving. But you'll still be "depriving" your kid of a nice birthday present.
Zahra is no stranger to controversy on social media. A skeptic could even conclude that the multi-millionaire is courting it intentionally to get clicks because she does it way too often for it to be a coincidence.
In the past, Zahra came under fire for posting videos of herself withdrawing as much as $500,000 in cash and filling duffel bags with it, and once, for complaining about how a Lamborghini was a poor choice for a daily driver because you could only fit $500K into its trunk. Where should a rich woman put the other $2 million? she asked.
@farhanazahra91 Happy birthday Nur Fatima Az zahra yang ke 5 ?????? happy dia dapat G Wagon yang dia nak, sampai dia asyik mintak nak pegang kunci je hahaha
? original sound - Farhana Zahra
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