Time for the young generation to swallow their pride

• Source: Global Times
• [01:53 November 06 2009]
• Comments

By Wu Meng

Most people are woken by an alarm clock in the morning, reminding them it is time to go to work or school. But Jiang Lin, a Chongqing resident whose daughter is studying in the UK, is woken up every morning by a video call from her daughter asking for advice on what to wear to school the next day.

Her 17-year-old daughter went to the University of Manchester in September to study economics – though perhaps she needs a crash course in life skills first.

Living in the UK on her own brought her much more than just a garment crisis. She finds it difficult to make new friends as they all seem more mature and independent.

If there is one thing that Chinese students should be proud of, it's their invincible exam techniques and test scores: They win glory in the fierce battles of paper tests effortlessly; they overcome all the difficulties in getting into good universities.

Years of cramming for exams and being stuffed into extracurricular tutorials in the evening have left them bereft of ordinary skills. They might be able to solve an equation or translate French to Chinese, but they don't even know how to change a light bulb, cook a simple meal or press the button on a washing machine.

It is ironic to picture liuxuesheng (students learning abroad) waiting for clothes and daily necessities sent by their parents from China, while their predecessors brought knowledge back and contributed much to China's development and modernization.

As a matter of fact, it is a widely-recognized problem that not only students but the entire younger generation born in the 1980s and 1990s are having difficulty adjusting to real life. This generation – the first that grew up under the one-child policy – have long been described as spoiled, self-centered and lacking a sense of social responsibility.