The newest daycare centre in town won’t be handing out dummies to just any little tot. London-born kids’ club Maggie & Rose, which houses “eat, play and learn spaces”, opened its first Hong Kong outlet at The Pulse in Repulse Bay on Sunday.
For the tiddly sum of HKD38,000, toddlers striving for superior status can join the privileged ranks of Hong Kong’s infant elite.
But that’s not all, of course. The little gems must maintain their position by paying teeny weeny monthly charges of between HKD1,800 and HKD8,000, depending on how many classes mummy and daddy want them to take.
And then, for their unrelenting loyalty to the clique, the club will reward the doshed-up darlings with a cheeky HKD134,000 charge at the end of the first year.
Don’t forget though, one must be recommended by an existing member to even be considered for Maggie & Rose – a requirement that will no doubt breed a wonderfully genuine relationship between the yummy mummies of Hong Kong.
But at least the said yummy mummies can partake in the experience (and not just the obtrusive PTA kind), being enjoying exclusive access to the WiFi while lounging on leather sofas and sampling the (no doubt cheap as chips) fare from the onsite restaurant.
Now we’ve got all the sarcasm out of our systems, we’ll just note that even in comparison to other prestigious members-only establishments in Hong Kong, Maggie & Rose is far from fair.
Take, for instance, the Foreign Correspondents Club. Grown adults NOT of the journalistic profession must pay a relatively reasonable joining fee of HKD25,000 following by a monthly subscription of HKD950. Maybe Hong Kong’s poorer parents could just send their kids there instead. There is a pub, after all.
The Hong Kong branch of Maggie & Rose is the first establishment outside of the London, following the opening of clubs in Kensington and Chiswick.
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