Tower Hamlets pupils hire super cars for school graduation ceremonies
Aminul Mishu Alam, 16, walks past cars parked at a social housing estate before a parade of "supercars" at Swanlea Secondary School graduation day. - Credit: REUTERS
Flash cars with huge price tags are being hired out by teens celebrating their graduation from school this summer.
Lamborghinis, Ferraris and even Bentleys that once were the preferred wheels of the wealthy are showing up on the streets of Tower Hamlets as 16-year-olds hire them to arrive at proms in style.
“It’s showing off, basically. Playing music, going from area to area to area,” said Foyzur Rahman, a pupil at Swanlea School in Brady Street, Whitechapel. He split the £400 gee with a friend to rent an Audi S4 for four days.
“Showing off your car, just everyone looking at you. It’s like your spotlight,” Foyzur said.
Many of those hiring the cars are from the borough’s Bangladeshi population, according to Ibrahim Hussain who works with his brother to hire the cars out. Youngsters are now saving up for years as the ceremonies become more and more lavish each year.
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The students, who are too young to drive, are chauffeured through the neighbourhood by drivers connected with car hire companies or by friends or relatives.
Clad in evening wear, they pose for pictures before attending the ceremony at school, and then head out for the night.
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For some teens, the substantial sums are hard to get together. Stephan Bolompa, a student at Swanlea, said that when he first approached his mother with the price of booking a car, it was too much to take from the family budget.
In the end, he was only able to go to the ceremony in a showy ride thanks to a friend’s mother, who borrowed a Range Rover Sport for free with the help of a company connection.
Getting the vehicle meant a lot to him: “Just the feeling that you’re actually taking part in the ceremony by having a car, it’s a good feeling,” he said
