GREETINGS Eunice Tang, to begin with I would like to applaud your courage for speaking your mind, particularly on a topic that is proven to be sensitive in a society of rather conservative norms.

As I am certainly impressed by your bluntness, there are some many parts of your article that I express a different opinion on. I will hereby convey my message by telling why.

Fifty years ago, it was an around-the-world-in-80-days world; today, 76 hours and 45 minutes makes the circumnavigation record for a non-stop, non-refuel solo plane flight. Times have indeed changed.

Millennials are on track to become the most educated generation to date. Today, 21% men and 27% women at ages 18-33 have completed at least a bachelor’s degree compared with our forefathers 50 years ago, where 12% and 7% of men and women did so respectively.

We can continue to talk about numbers all day yet 50 years ago, we are talking about a world that is unlike today where sugar is more dangerous than gunpowder.

For a country like Malaysia, which has just obtained independence, the main concern in life is to break free from poverty.

As the quality of living improves, we do not become satisfied by leading a peaceful and prosperous existence. Rather, we become satisfied when reality matches out expectations.

The bad news is that as conditions improve, expectations balloon. Thus, it is hypocritical to suggest that our generation chases after happiness over money and stability unlike our forefathers who you claimed to be other way around when the ground we are allowed to step foot on today is paved through a generation’s hard work.

These men are nothing like the modern white-collar careerists you included in your article but rubber tappers, tin miners, lumberjacks, etc, whose life’s hard work served as the nutrient of an entire society and allowed it to thrive.

The purpose of education is not to belittle others nor to seek dominance as it is easy to stray down the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.

It is important to acknowledge that the corporate ladder is not a system created by our forefathers but a by-product of capitalism. Further, the inflation and educational issues you raised involved complex matters, such as policymaking and macroeconomics, it is simply not fair to berate an entire generation to justify one’s personal feelings.

The big data era has opened the accessibility to many doors. By typing “Mona Lisa” in the Google search engine, we could bypass space and time, saving a trip to the Louvre and yet be able to behold the genius of Leonardo da Vinci at the same time.

Thinking of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, instead of walking to a concerto or buying the CD, we now have the choice of appreciating the masterpiece through YouTube.

For an individual who grew up with Malaysia’s mud and rain, these are indeed sophisticated and subtle works of remarkable men representing the brilliance of human civilisation. I, however, find little sophistication in the “internet era”, as you put it.

As information came cheap from the world wide web, how do we deal with unfiltered news? How would we regard knowledge? News without accuracy and knowledge and without wisdom can both be pointless.

Worse, it can be dangerous to oneself or the other. For instance, strong statements can quickly turn into false accusations when one thinks he is presenting a strong argument when it is merely a figment of his imagination.

Wikipedia depicts the strawberry generation as a people who cannot withstand social pressure or work hard like their parent’s generation. The term refers to people who are insubordinate, spoiled, selfish and arrogant. Your article speaks volumes about what you are. – November 22, 2017.

* Ken Y reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight.