For Singapore’s Gen Z, ‘Girl Math’ offers a path to ‘finding joy’ – and spending recklessly
- Some Singaporeans say Girl Math is a ‘coping mechanism’ for young people grappling with cost-of-living pressures in the city state
- A survey of Singaporean Gen Zs and millennials revealed 41 per cent spent more than they earned and 52 per cent were in debt
If you buy enough bubble tea drinks in an order to qualify for free delivery, you essentially get a cup free. Or if you buy a dress for US$200, it costs just US$1 if you wear it 200 times.
In Southeast Asia, some on social media have been tickled by the trend, while it has sparked alarm among others who argue that it could encourage reckless spending.
In the minute-long clip, Kunaseharan begins by rounding down the cost of a COE to S$140,000 before dividing it by 10, which is the number of years the permit is valid before it has to be renewed.
He then divides it by the number of days in a year and repeats the process before finally splitting it down to the number of minutes in a day, bringing the value down to S$0.02 – which makes car ownership essentially “free”, he claims in the video.
Kunaseharan told This Week in Asia that while Girl Math is rooted in humour and “delusion”, it also serves as a “coping mechanism” for young people grappling with cost-of-living pressures in the city state.
