To most kids, celebrating their birthday is one of the biggest highlights of the year.
For one Malaysian boy, his recent birthday might even be the highlight of his life as he celebrated it in Dubai this year.
In February, his family took him to Dubai for his fifth birthday, which included a private helicopter ride and a birthday greeting plastered over the Burj Khalifa.
His mother documented the experience in a TikTok video, which has gone viral with over 31 million views to date.
Last Friday (3 Mar), TikTok user @sheilanannn shared a video detailing her five-year-old son’s birthday celebration in Dubai.
@sheilanannn SUPRISE BIRTHDAY TRIP FOR MUHAMMAD LUTH AKBAR✨ #dubai #birthdaytrip ♬ original sound – sheilanan
Titled ‘Luth’s 5th Birthday Trip’, the 32-second clip showed snippets of the opulent trip, including flying business class and taking a helicopter ride over Dubai.
He apparently also got to blow out birthday candles at luxury steakhouse Nusr-Et and meet the owner himself, who is none other than internet sensation Salt Bae.
Other highlights included taking in views of the Palm Jumeirah islands on boat, exploring a desert safari, and spending an evening on a private beach.
On top of all that, the birthday boy received a greeting of epic proportions via a projection on the Burj Khalifa aka the world’s tallest building.
Between all that, his family even managed to squeeze in some back-to-school shopping for him at designer stores.
The over-the-top birthday celebration attracted a mixed bag of reactions from netizens.
Comments spanned a wide range of emotions, from admiration to envy to distaste for the lavish display.
One user pointed out the contrast between Luth and kids in Sudan who “don’t even have food to eat”.
Another user felt that such a celebration would not have the intended impact on the boy as kids only want a simple birthday party with friends, water guns, and balloons.
Meanwhile, one other netizen sang a different tune as they said this shows Luth is growing up “loved and well”.
Another was simply in awe of him getting a birthday wish on the Burj Khalifa, calling it extraordinary.
Naturally, everyone could not help but wonder what the boy’s family does for a living to be able to afford such a vacation.
For starters, it appears Luth’s mother Sheila is a successful content creator with over 2.2 million and 590,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram respectively.
According to mStar, Sheila also owns a restaurant business.
Speaking to the Malaysian publication, she said that they decided to throw a belated celebration for Luth in Dubai so he could meet his beloved aunt who lives there.
“He actually didn’t know we were taking him to Dubai until he met with Ona (Luth’s aunt),” said Sheila.
Apart from Luth and Sheila, her husband and their one-year-old daughter also went on the trip.
While she declined to reveal how much the week-long trip cost, Sheila said it was in the six-figure range.
She added that this was her way of making her son happy, which is her source of joy as a mother.
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Featured image adapted from TikTok.
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