Older Generations Give Us Grades
Ck Lao

"When I was your age, I could already..." The sentence I often heard whenever my mother is about to lecture me. As time goes by, society changes. We don't have to suffer from wars or poverty anymore in Macao. We live a rich materialistic lifestyle which distinguishes us the post-90 generation differently from the elder generations. How different are we? And how elder people perceive us the post-90s?
   
I asked several people randomly on the streets, and found, (sort of expectedly) that most of them have negative impressions towards the post-90s. They refused formal interviews but were eager to give their opinions. The common points they made were encapsulated in the following opinion:  the post-90s were "dependent, spoiled and a bit self-centered".

Mr. Pou, a 50-year-old clerk, said many post-90s were spoiled by their parents and became dependent due to the reason that most of them are the "only child" in the family. "Comparatively, the post-80s and earlier generations can learn to take responsibilities by taking care of their siblings."

To my understanding we are easy to be "spoiled" because we live an easier life, as compared to the older generations. Our parents spoiled us because they wanted to provide us with protection and better conditions, which were what they lacked in their childhood. I, myself, sometimes got excused from doing housework and was told to focus on my studies.
       
What about self-centeredness? Are we all that?
       
In my personal experience, I think people sometimes think less of others. For example, students applied to join certain activities in the university; however, some would have no-show in the activities without notifying anybody. "They overestimated themselves and didn't care about others," a staff at University of Macau shared his point.
   
As a Chinese saying goes, "It is unfair to tar all the post-90s with the same brush". Mr. Lam, a preacher, said, "Sometimes the post-90s ignore others or are self-centered simply because they want to exploit their talents and prove themselves." He also mentioned that they (the post-90s) are quite creative and they should be given more encouragements and taught how to help others.

A lot of the post-90s are actually quite hard working and willing to help others. Mrs. Ieong, a social welfare worker said, "Many college students of the post-90s always volunteered in my social welfare organization."

Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus is quoted, "Youth is above all a collection of possibilities." The older generations might have negative impressions of us, yet I believe that we are more than that. We are individuals, we are different. We are indefinite definitions of the post-90 generation.