Gen X Gen Y
Recently, the Straits times featured an article by an Aussie poll on Gen-Y members whom are the babies born in the late 80s to 90s. The poll was whether the Gen-Y expect their parents to pay for their housing and etc..generally it means whether Gen Y takes the parents for granted. The result was seemingly overwhelming.
Put in perspective,most of my fellow peers are the Gen Y-ers and the sentiments are the reliance on the parents are seemingly not as exaggerated as the findings in the poll. Perhaps we had omitted the fact that the poll might not be representative in the Singapore's context.
From one angle, we cannot deny the fact that as a Gen Y-er, I believe the life that I experienced, even as a member of a middle-income family, was much cosier than what my parents had went through. Growing up in a baby-boomer era, my parents were part of their families where 6 or 7,sometimes even up to 10, siblings were common. The downsizing in terms of family size for the Gen-Y was much proportional to the living expenses during the late 80s and 90s. Singapore turned to be more capital and knowledge-intensive and thus, parents are aware that they need to fund the children's education more intensively than what their own parents did. With this thinking, perhaps they felt that setting aside more for fewer children outweighs the vice-versa. Thats why as a Gen Y-er, we realise that the monetary(of course, the love) investment showered upon us were much more. Inevitably, this has caused the latter to be less independent. We step into the real world, or the working society, later by 5-10 years on average than a Gen X-er.
The later we enter the working industry correspondingly means that we have more years that we are financially dependent on the parents. Come to think of it, after the age of 21, for some 18, its the era where the hormones are raging in the non-crooked manner. It means that people start to climb the Maslow hierachy of needs. We start to buy more expensive and heftier products and spend like an adult; going on travel; visiting pubs and clubs. All these are most probably funded from the pocket money in a very general notation. This also points to a bigger pocket money budget, aint it. All these points to why Gen Y are seemingly more dependent on the parents, in my own honest opinion.
Come to think of it, sometimes i wonder if it was much better if i ve opted to work part time and study part-time. The extra 4 years of working experience might have essentially put me in a better position than taking up a 4 years undergraduate course. The opportunity cost of studying means 4 years of salaries + CPF contribution. Well..life is a gamble anyway. The general comfort zone is alwyas the route most travelled.. Haha. In retrospect, part time studying might have been better but i dun have the balls to try it anyway.
WARNING:
1. Sentosa siloso car park 's per entry is $3!!!
Greeted by the 200% increase in carpark fees, sian half. Nonetheless it was a fun and relaxing afternoon. The highlight was ironically the TI-DI matches where we would send the person with the highest accumulated points into the sea..
2. Dian Xiao Er is only as good as her DANG GUI DUCK.
Every now and then, i think of life. Not really a walk down memory lane but a walk into why and how things turn out this way.
Just for the past few weeks alone, i saw the reality of life pushing closer and drawing nearer to me.
I witnessed yet another death of a friend's loved one, watched bei's uncle lying on the bed. Cant help but felt the fragility of life reflecting upon us as clear as a mirror.
On the other side of life, the ugliness of people once again surfaced beneath me. Why did you choose to hold on to 2 cameras at one time when I had asked you for just one of them. It merely showed me how ugly people are. Selfishness on the expense of people who needed it more. Thats why i always hold on tightly to my stand- dun rely on others. I hated to beg people and subject myself to the mercy of people.
Of course, I ve seen the lighter side of life as well. For one, i think Vic is a very nice guy. A person who is selfless.
Thats why i think life is fair in her own fashion. She gives u some bad things, so the good things shine in comparison. I guess..once again..life is FAIR!
