Often, we look back on our college and university days with nostalgia, as those were the times when we were carefree and all we had to worry about was scoring good grades. Some of us were more fortunate as our parents could afford to send us to private universities while some of us had to fend for ourselves such as borrowing loans to put ourselves through school. PTPTN anyone?
While we are thankful for our parents’ sacrifices, sometimes millennials are perceived to be rather ungrateful and take things for granted. But this recent confession from a student in a private Malaysian university caught everyone’s attention because it served as a wake-up call for ungrateful millennials.
The person wondered if he was born in the wrong generation. He confesses how going into university, he had a huge culture shock.
“All the students here are coming to pursue their tertiary education. Shouldn’t university students be improving their soft skills and absorbing more knowledge from friends?
“Most of the students (not all of them) have a great amount of knowledge towards trendy items instead. They know the latest fashionable must-haves such as adidas NMD, Birkenstocks, Bape, Kenzo, iPhone and many more. But they don’t know what is happening in our country. They don’t even read the news. They don’t even have basic knowledge about the economy. ”
His aunt shared that this may be how rich kids lived as they paid expensive fees to attend private university.
“I had the same thinking, until I got to know some of the students better and found out that they aren’t really that rich. Their parents have to work really hard to put them through university. They can’t afford to buy a better car or even a Myvi and if they did have one, it would be a huge burden to them instead.
“The worst thing is, they think that those who don’t own these items aren’t rich. They look down on them, and feel that these people are outdated.“
Source: Tumblr
The poster shares his bewilderment because these students are simply spending money on luxury items they don’t really need. Worse, they are using their parents’ hard-earned money to do so, all in the name of being ‘cool’.
“Are these material things useful? They just bring temporary gratification to humans. Of course, everyone has the right to buy whatever they want to make them happy, but what I noticed is that most of them use their parents money to buy the things they do not need.
“Is that really right? Look at your parents’ torn shoes before you decide to buy that pair of Birkenstocks for the sake of being fashionable and not because it’s comfortable. Think of your parents’ phone when you are thinking of buying the latest iPhone. Here you are living it up in the city and partying hard while you forget that your parents are working hard in your hometown. I’m really sad to see this, to see our young millennials becoming like this.”
He stresses again how millennials nowadays ‘care more about these materialistic things than their education and knowledge’.
“This is really bad seriously, even though I come from a privileged background, we know the importance of knowledge. We want education. Even when we have extra allowance, we don’t use them to buy things that give us temporary satisfaction. And we don’t dress up that way just to let people know we are rich and we can afford all those branded things. Although this may be none of my business, I just want to share my feelings. I’m truly upset because I feel that I am an odd ’90s (kid).”
The post garnered more than 1,000 shares, with many netizens agreeing with what the student has said. Some also said, “This (behaviour) can be seen in youths everywhere, not just in the top private universities. Take this as a life lesson, guys.”
Do you agree with what the person said?
Also read: Self-Made Millionaire Tells Millennials Why They Should NOT Travel Now
