After a hiatus of 6 years, I was thinking if I should actually revive blogging of my random thoughts and miscellaneous stuff on my blog. As it is, the current state of blogging is no longer just for personal ramblings, but more for commercial benefits. It is quite amazing to see how far this trend has gone. And now with Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, many of the initial bloggers have moved onto Vlogging, tweeting, Instastories, Snapchats, etc, etc.
The very transient nature of Instastories and Snapchat feeds seem to fit well with the modern millennials and their lifestyles. The whole idea of being in the moment, living the moment, sharing the moment, and then after 24 hours, it's gone like the wind.
Nothing is forever, now is the moment.
Majority of millennials live for today, and rarely make long term plans. The same goes for their imbalance of expenditure versus their salaries, or the lack thereof. They sign and make purchases based on credit, sometimes from their own bank accounts, but mostly from their parents' money, even before they have the ability to make their own. Many of which own cars, gifted by their parents, way before they even started earning their first cent.
Perhaps it is in the pursue of matching up with their peers in terms of material possessions, or the building of one's ego, that drives them to spend whatever they earn on luxury or branded goods, as well as expensive food.
Gone were the days where McDonalds was just S$5 for an entire meal, where Secondary, Junior College and Polytechnic, and even University students were most often seen hanging out to study and what not. Starbucks and mid-range cafes and restaurants are now the norm amongst these students, with ala carte meals starting from at least S$15. That is 3 times the expenditure for a meal. Needless to say, even McDonalds has upgraded it's pricing and offerings to include more "gourmet" selections that go up to S$10+ for a set meal, in order to keep with the trend.
In terms of fashion and clothing, students no long make purchases from brands like Giordano and Bossini, but instead have upgraded to more high street brands such as Cotton On, Topshop, Topman, Zara, Dorothy Perkins, Gap, Adidas Nike, Vans, Superga, etc. And the price of clothing also does a significant jump. Trainers from Adidas and Nike used to be a "luxury" for us during school time, but now it is as common as the mandatory canvas white shoes we used to wear to school.
Thriftiness is also not common amongst millennials. Money comes easily to them, as all they have to do is usually just ask from their parents, so the idea of saving up is almost non-existent.
Sometimes I pity the parents that had to work so hard and scrimp on themselves just save money for their kids, but just to have their own Millennials kids waste it away in the blink of an eye.
This has nothing to do with the fact that the standard of living is no longer the same as the past. As this sense of everything being dispensable and easily replaced, even extends to the way they handle their own friendships, romantic relationships, and even marriages. Millennials fall in and out of love in with blink of an eye, and since they usually marry in their early or mid twenties, this translates to the rise of divorce amongst young married couples.
It is the innate core nature and principles of life of the generation of people that have changed. And it is very difficult to go back to the past when the people themselves are used to pampered from the day they were born. They never know what it was like to scrimp on food and transport in school, just to get enough money to buy something you really want or need.
I shall leave you with the quote that I came across yesterday.
"Consider how hard it is to change yourself, and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others."
~ Jacob M. Braude
专属天使の悪戯なKiss m(~_~)m
