Monday, June 28, 2010

This makes me BOIL

The following FB status update from a cousin I barely know made my blood boil:

"When one of my cousin congratulated me for being able to
secure a spot at SMU, I responded saying "It's no big deal".
After all what can SMU guarantee me.
Where's my penthouse and Audi?
To make things worse, SMU* has put me in a 40k deficit."

(*SMU = Singapore Management University)

WTF?! I read offensive statements like this from the "younger" cohort of human beings regularly and this particular one got me seething. Perhaps that's because he's my so-called cousin and it's personal somewhat.

Are they expecting life to be given to them on a silver platter? In this case, if "it's no big deal" - why then would you put yourself in a so called '40K deficit'? The arrogance and depth of impetinence offences me.

Wake up! There are no guarantees in life. Even our time on earth is not guaranteed so why would an educational institution anywhere in the world guarantee outcomes of a materialistic nature?

His attitude and objective of this undertaking is all wrong. Instead, he ought to be taken out of the comforts of his HDB home with mum and dad still looking after his daily needs  - evidently National Service didn't instill any sense into him whatsoever and neither did the values of the working class!

In fact, he should partake in volunteer work in a less fortunate country for a period of time (minimum 6 months) to gain a heathy and mature perspective on life. Forget National Service - that approach is way too soft these days.

Why do "younger" human beings have such unrealistic expectations of life? What have we as a society done to encourage this? It's no wonder employers shun from employing the "young ones" because they have no stickability whatsoever.

Instead of asking what society can give them, they should be asking what they can give to society.

I am very disappointed ...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is what happens when you grow up spoilt in a rich country. A lot of them in S'pore my dear. Get use to it. Its what you can do for me and not what I can do for you attitude. This person unless they wake up now, is in for a lifetime of disappointment and tons of superficial people around him - Sue

Magdalene said...

They are so insulated from their little city that they fail to see that the world in fact, starts at the causeway! It makes me boil that this is not just a Singapore mentality and one that is shared by the next generation. However, I have to agree that they are all brought up in the same environment - rich country, spoilt child / children who are raised with a very a set of values that prevents the next generation from reaching their true potential.