The Silent Room

My eldest brother, now a father to three beautiful children [and one more coming very very soon] works as an accountant to support the family. He comes to visit us every now and then and for me, getting to play with his kids is always a refreshing change to an otherwise dull routine.

Today however, he asked me [via email] about the cost of a 4-year course for an Engineering degree at MMU. I was, needless to say, amused. He wrote that he was considering several different education investment plans for the kids, hence the question. That notion struck me for a moment. Adila, his eldest, is already 5 years old. I just realised that it’s probably the best time for her parents to start an education plan for her. Being the resposible daddy that my brother is [I suppose that's a trait being passed down right there], he decided to take the step a bit further.

So, back to his question about MMU fees. Since MMU is still considered a private university, it’s fees more or less come to a rather herculean figure. For an engineering course, the cost of tuition fees, books and various expenditures could easily rack up to RM 12K. And that’s just the degree. Unless he’s sending the kid for STPM, he’s gonna have to think about the costs for foundation or A-Levels courses as well. But since he was asking for a degree alone, I gave the rough estimate of RM 48K.

His reply?

Uh, ok. RM48k at today’s prices would be around RM 70k by the time Adila reaches 18. Kids are not cheap, for sure.

I can’t help but laugh. I can almost imagine the WTF look on his face when he read my reply. But really, come to think of it, kids really are not cheap. You have to spend your money on them right until they can earn for themselves. Which, in case you’re too lazy to do the math, is well over 2 decades. 2 decades of hard-earned money spent to raise a child. Man.

I mean with that kind of money no wonder so many parents break down when they realised they raised a pile of shit i.e. those rapists, drunk drivers, idiots who don’t know how to flush the public loo etc. I mean, just look at yourself, don’t you just wonder how much YOU cost?

It does make you feel somewhat guilty concious when you think of the times you raised your voice at them, yes? I shall leave those thoughts for you to digest while I go digest my lunch.