Wow! A blast from the past, posted this back in 2008 ... somehow, I find the current batch (2013-2014) of graduates to be much better than those I interviewed in 2006-2008/
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The headline may sound like an old man bitching about how tough it was during his younger days, I hope its not. Over the last few years I have had to hire at least 10-15 new graduates every year, and then get the unit managers to train them up. In highlighting their shortcomings, I have to generalise but I am sure that's pretty much the same conclusion throughout the country in all industries.
1) Rich parents - Parents who are rich, please note, generally your children will be assholes if you do nothing right when they were young. That's because the over mollycoddling, pandering to their whims and fancies, have shaped their character - which is pathetic. I have a few rich kids who have OK degrees, but decided to quit after a couple of months because they wanted to do something else. When asked further, they said they wanted to go further their studies. Geez, that is only an option if your parents are well off. After the years of investment into the child, there is seemingly no inclination of the need to be independent or self sufficient. They can have the option because the parents allow them to. What a wonderful bunch of kids.
Some even have the audacity to go for a long holiday after their graduation. You try to follow your Western fellow graduates... well for one, most of them work for at least a year to save up before they embark on their travels (I don't think we do)... and when they study, they themselves take up student loans which they will pay back when they work (which we don't).
2) Character - Linking onto the above, the same spoilt brats generally have poor character. When I say character, I meant ability to assume responsibility, respect for corporate culture, ability to apply themselves well, work at something, ability to learn and willingness to learn, and general people skills.
3) English - Now we go to quality of graduates. Most, whether they are local or foreign graduates, cannot speak coherent English. I am appalled that the Chinese schools are now clamouring for Science and Maths to be taught in Chinese for the first 6 years of schooling. Why? English is not a glorification of western culture, it is an essential tool for business and global communications. I am not dissing Chinese, Malay or Tamil language, but if you think you can compete in an increasingly globalised world with just your mother tongue, that is misplaced arrogance of culture. Study English together with whatever other languages you want, not at the expense of English. It is also not enough to just have a working knowledge of English, you need to master it. Education gives a person choices and options, and English broadens that scope even more. Can your child go and work in the US or European firms, if he/she wanted to? If they had the tools, they would be sought after if they were good.
4) Communication skills - Linked to the mastering of English, it is not enough to learn how to do power point presentations or run up figures in excel spreadsheets. A person can greatly add value when they can present them well. Oratory skills are mightily lacking in Malaysian young graduates. The art of persuasion, the ability to project professionalism, and eventually the ability to lead. Just imagine Obama without his oratory skills. I always exhort my friends with kids to forget about the ballet classes, the extra tuition classes... make sure you enroll them in the drama and speech making skills classes, there are a few around.
5) Intellectually not strong - When I come across even those who scored fantastic results or graduated from top foreign universities, I find some of them unable to hold an intellectual argument. If presented with a common question such as why are we now in this global economic crisis. Most I will hear are one or two points: easy credit, excess leveraging... and nothing else. A decent answer would have to include examining the crux factors, there are at least 5, and then ascribing proper blame proportionately. You need to examine a complex issue from a few angles. Our education system is such that there is only one answer per question in the exam papers. Hence after giving one answer, they think they have answered the whole question.
6) Bias/Street Smarts - Some will say that local graduates are unfairly discriminated. I don't buy that. I tend to not look at degrees as that only tells me you can read and write. What most employers are looking for is that one quality - I call it street-smartness or ability to think on his feet. Can you be taught that? I don't know. It has to do will self assurance and inherent self confidence. These people are problem solvers, they are doers, they take the initiative, they will speak up at the right time, they get the job done by hook or crook. They rise above the crowd because they won't be the first to say "cannot do". They are achievers when they put their minds to it. They can be persuasive and they apply themselves diligently to master any new tasks. You have that, the degree is just a visa for you to travel further in your career.
We have too many followers, not enough street smart people. I don't think you can teach that at MBAs. But one thing for sure, you may be able to cultivate "street smartness" when they are young. Always encourage and allow your kids to join the Scouts, Drama Clubs, Leos or Interact clubs. To me, these are breeding grounds for future corporate animals. The interaction, social politics, club politics, camaraderie, application to one's objectives are all critical to encourage one to develop and establish his own identity and personality, and in many ways help them make sense of how the world operates. Most of the street smarts I know who now do well in corporate world, also did remarkably well in those movements and clubs when they were younger.
Parents nowadays have fewer children, so they can spend more resources on them. This apply to not just the rich. Don't molly-coddle. Some over protective parents do not allow their kids to join any society or clubs even. They get ferried to and from school and then to and from tuition. When home, they do some homework and play computer games or do internet chats the whole time. Time to rethink our influence in our young.
p/s photo: Choi Jeong Won
30 comments:
Thanks for this very much needed analysis -- now, to have both the parents and their children to go through and internalise what you put forth.
I too face the similar problem in my work place. I'm just wondering myself whatever happened to all the good graduates out there. There seem to be none over the last 5-10 yrs or so, joining the workforce or, employers from less-known SMEs are just not attracting the right candidates?
Being in finance/accounts, I have concluded that M'sia as a Nation has produced the following groups of graduates:
a) Top notch graduates with all the good qualities in an employee working in the developed countries like US,UK, Aust etc.
b) Those of (a) but lacking in English language proficiency but possibly chinese educated would probably be PRC, HK, Sin etc.
c) Obviously some of those in (a) or (b) but based locally would either be in branded MNCs or GLCs in M'sia like Genting, Tanjong, Sime etc.
d) The rest just fall into other SMEs and less known local PLCs.
Dali,
Man, you're a modern day prophet! What brought on this latest post? Did you have some kids tell you to shove your job up "you know where" every time the year-end holidays comes around?
I even thought of putting in place a sort of "finishing school" concept to round off the rough edges and help these young buggers learn the softer side of skills. The idea died on the vine - the raw materials we're working with are just not bothered.
I remember a Fortune article that these kids think nothing of staying home and leech off their mamas and papas.
At times, I morosely think the recession will be "good" experience for these kids. Losing their jobs and cars might just be the tonic.
Spot on analysis. But there are some pretty good graduates (and some pretty rich ones too) but these are usually rare gems. It is all how they are brought up.
I do agree that English is important but Mandarin is equally important now (and I'm not saying this because I'm Chinese and btw, I'm also Mandarin illiterate). With China gaining so much presence in the world economy, you can't deny that China has become a very important part of the global economy and to be able to do business or work with Chinese companies, you'll need some level of Mandarin. If I'm not wrong, Mandarin is the second most popular language in the world.
To clk, agree with your analysis that there's a lot of brain drain...those who are good at English are now working in US, UK and the Middle East and those who are more dual lingual with both English and Mandarin are working in HK, Singapore and China and of course there's those who are a bit lacking in English but good in Mandarin works in China and Taiwan. So what's is left in Malaysia? Well we still have some good graduates who choose not to work overseas for various reasons like family etc but like I said earlier these are rare gems. But with the current global economy, Malaysia should do something to entice these ppl to come back but......unless our politicians change don't think it will happen.
Don't think its just molly coddling. Maybe the kids are a reflection of parents themselves?
Overall, I agree with this analysis. However, I don't think it's quite fair to lay the responsibilities on the parents alone.
IMHO, our education system has to bear the brunt of the failure of our young graduates. There are times that the quality of our educators is suspect. Compounded with this is the focus on achieving A's in exams based on rote memorization. Even worst is the impact of inflation of grades in an examination system. A string of A1s used to mean something. Nowadays, the standards are so loose that an A1s grade doesn't mean as much as it used to...
Further, kids are being bombarded with marketing, advertisements and dumbed-down shows that have no educational values whatsoever. Why aren't more documentaries being shown on the air? I suspect they've all been moved to pay-TV, Astro?
Why should we be surprised if young graduates turn out the way they are? Isn't it surprising to note that how important topics like money management, reading skills and public speaking are left out of the school syllabus [in my time]. Once these students graduate and find themselves jobless, then we find the Government realizing they lack such soft skills and scramble to teach them these skills. Hello? Shouldn't they have been taught these subjects in the first place?
Parents can only exhibit some degree of control over how their kids turn out. The rest is up to the education system.
Rgds
muahaha how very true..
it's partly the result of our flawed education system as well.. all focus on academic results without any emphasis social skills, creative thinking, public speaking etc..
Franky I don't give a shit if you get 16As in SPM but can't even hold down a conversation.
I noticed a few similarities in fresh grads these days
1. No Hunger/Desire to succeed.
Back in my day, we can't wait to find work after graduation, much less about going for a long holiday. And when we finally get that job, we'll throw ourselves at any chance to impress the boss. Nowadays the fresh meat are just content to sit around waiting for 5pm. And they have the cheek to complain the boss don't notice them
2. Spoonfeeding
I guess its all those years of teachers spoonfeeding them tips for exams. It's bad enough that all their school education mean jack in the real life, most fresh grads are too lazy to pick up new skills for the job. Then they complain the job doesn't suit them. Whatever happened to adapting yourself to the job?
3. Communication Skills
Most of them have the communication skills of an ostrich. Good for the interviewer though, takes all of 2 mins to ask them to get out the room.
Dear avatar,
That's the whole story of our education system, memorize and regurgitate.
Thats why when Dali ask them a question, all the candidate does is regurgitate what he memorized from studying for the interview. Try asking them for their opinion, "oh I didn't study for that sorry"
We are not training future leaders here, just some mindless drone in a nameless cubicle
Dali, you've hit the spot once again. It's not just a problem in your industry, but everywhere else.
One thing that was not highlighted in your article is the inability of young graduates to think and analise due to the over-reliance on copy-and-paste, mostly from Google presumably. They need a template for everything! Even letters!
More appallingly, today's graduates think too highly of themselves and expect instantaneous results. Many expect high salaries, high annual increments and to be Mr. Vice President by 30.
I once told an interview candidate, "dude, I don't give a horseshit what your designation is or where you graduated from. I'll pay you based on the value you bring."
Avatar - it is mostly the responsibility of parents! Parents should decide how much TV their kids watch, how much computer time they get, and whether or not their kids get addicted to PS2s.
Formal education results are overrated. But true education lies in the home. Where parents teach kids about values, build character and ability to analise information for themselves.
My parents took me to the public library every week. That's where I learned the value of reading and books. When was the last time you heard a modern parent do this?
Butt - Mandarin is the second most USED language in the world. Not necessarily the most popular or IMPORTANT. Heck, the Chinese kids are carrying American accents nowadays.
10-20 years ago, our education system was in much better shape. Teachers in school were trained in proper colleges setup under the old british regime. Most of them have since retired or are already retiring. The new bunch of teachers are poorly trained and consist of those who didn't quite make it into the universities. Without good qualified teachers, how do we get good students?
10 years ago there was very limited space available in universities. Only the top students got in. Now university entrance is a foregone conclusion as long as you are not mentally challenged.
Most of the people who get into universities today, do not deserve to be there. People who score ~20 points (adjust that for how easy it is to score nowadays, and you'll see how poor some of them can be) in SPM can easily get into degree programs nowadays. University entrance is a joke.
Once they get in, universities pander to the "customers". Faculty members aren't allowed to fail students because that would
a. make the school look bad,
b. parents will blame in on bad teaching anyway, despite their children not working on their studies at all
c. they are paying customers, lets keep them happy.
So add that all up together what do you get? Graduates that never should possess a degree. Degrees just ain't worth shit anymore. Any Ali, Chong and Ravi can get it easily.
Excepting the obvious difference of time and place of the Malaysia context, you are describing students I taught 15 years ago at one of the UK’s top 3 universities. Included in my comment would also be postgraduate level students.
Such was my state of disillusionment I left after 3 years and went full time into international business. Prior to the University work I worked for a few years in senior Government posts. Now I work in investment banking.
The most depressing aspect of it is, despite living in what should be a world of global access, thus fostering a wide perspective and range of inputs, in fact, events, decisions, and interpretation of such is done in a narrow mono dimensional sense. Summarised by your comment on exam questions – they are taught there is one answer to every question. Give the rehearsed, template answer – question answered. Simple. That was the case in the UK even 15 years ago.
In fact it is often a stage worse. For each topic the same parrot answer is often trotted out almost regardless of the question. That outcome is merely another version of your lack of analytical ability point. This is the most telling and limiting factor; brain dead graduates working for brain dead senior managers. It’s a rot that set in many years back. And its a self-reinforcing cycle.
Until about 1973, when fiscal types started taking over Uni management, the Uni where I taught (international politics) insisted that all students regardless of faculty must for the first 2 years of Uni take compulsory courses in logic and philosophy. The reasons why this was “policy” and deemed essential are, I would have thought, self-evident.
Today I too interview people. But only when I can rouse myself from my boredom. Probably about 8 weeks ago I interviewed the absolutely typical mid-level manager from one of the Big 4. Usual “impressive reading” CV. Substance? Value-add? – virtually nil. Another individual hopelessly adrift from reality as well as lacking an ability to make sensible conversation if we were not talking about audit, accounts or reporting. When asked e.g. about whether the assumptions that were underwriting the audit made sense – the response was one of puzzlement, not so much that there were no assumptions (very few of course) but that someone should question whether the assumptions made sense. Regardless of how many times and from how many different angles I asked about what should be considered when looking at an M&A or “a deal” the answer was always the same – an audit will tell us how the company works, the true value of the asset, whether the management know what they are doing and the potential for the deal to succeed in the market.
This I should add was a conversation about deals in (Asian) emerging markets – where essentially I have been involved for 20+ years in one way or another.
And that was a fairly typical interview. Nothing special or unexpected.
I wonder, would there be any point giving my interviewee a copy of Studwell’s “Asian Godfathers”? Probably not; 90% of the facts, names and places in it would be completely unknown to the reader; the historical context would be a black hole (as we deal with people who live in a world where if something didn’t happen in the last 3-5 years, it didn’t happen); and the structural analysis of intangibles as presented by Studwell would be an exercise in hopelessness as we deal with people who struggle vainly to envisage, let alone explain and anticipate, something they cannot see or touch.
A UK-based friend who works at the top levels of an important UK institution summed up similar things the other day to me in an email as pertains to the senior management of his workplace: “There is no requirement for expertise or for command of foreign languages, we have the Internet”.
I totally agree with you about rich kids being spoilt... but I think you have to extend it.
To middle income, and also lower income families.
You might not believe me, but even those less well off play "keep up with the joneses"
It's ridiculous.
You think you have it bad? At least you are dealing with those who mustered the will to study hard and score those exam results.
When I talk to those who DIDN'T bother to strive to achieve stuff, yet they expect to live in the lap of luxury... now THAT makes me feel really sick.
I admit that those who say "I achieved such good exam results, I expect my career to shoot up" is bad... but it's much worse when dealing with those who say "I never achieved much... it was too much effort... but if you give me a chance I will prove to you that my career will shoot up"
Sickening.
To put it in simple "current" terms, my generation is freaking lost.
Even those of us who are relatively motivated and talented enough to make it in today’s corporate world are “defective”.
Why you may ask, the reason is simple. We are addicted to instant-gratification… Just like Pavlov’s dog every time we achieve something we expect to be rewarded. IMHO Instant-gratification is seldom available in the corporate world. Heck! bonuses are typically paid only once a year, and what makes it worse is the fact that 9 good months can be royally screwed by 3 bad months. I am from the banking sector in Malaysia and although the current crisis has not fully manifested here, it has been deemed prudent (by Mgmt) to cut increments and bonuses (paid at end of Dec but appraised based on a financial year ending in june), I totally agree with management but…. ARghh!!
P.S. I know I haven’t explained fully why we are lost, but I need to get a quick fix/Ciggy….Haha more instant gratification!
Dear Ben,
I am not discounting the value of parental teaching. However, not all parents may be as well educated/enlightened as yours.
Let me just ask you this:
What's the point of setting up an educational system using public resources if you feel that it's of so little value compared to parental teaching?
Isn't something wrong somewhere? And based on the burgeoning tuition industry, I'm pretty sure it is.
Rgds
avatar,
I have to agree with Ben and the rest, parents shoulder most of the blame... you cannot go and have kids and then say to the gov thats yr responsibility. How a person's character, desire, value system are shaped, is likely to be by the input of parents. If the parents lacked that, it will be substituted by influences from friends and the education system.
This has very little to do with smart or stupid parents. Care and guidance and instillation of right motives and values are not exclusive to the rich... in fact the rich in general are devoid of such morals and attributes.
Dali, the rich brings up their children as brat and expect them to continue to lead the conglomerate. Wishful thinking, leaders of industries need to be prepared from the day they were born. Just like the prince is groomed to be King from day 1.The reason for the saying, ‘Family wealth will not last for three generations’.
so dali will we see a "how to" guide real soon?
hehe
Dear Dali,
I agree with both you and Ben on the importance of parental guidance. It's just seems to me that the educational system and its' emphasis on rote learning is counterproductive to the process of inculcating proper values and skill sets to students.
The government should not be wholly accountable for the problems that young graduates face. However, I don't think they can absolve themselves wholly from it, either. I'm speaking from my own [subjective] experience which may be somewhat flawed.
IMHO, the most worrying aspect about this whole discussion is that the so-called younger generation are about to become parents themselves. If they do not possess desirable qualities about them, what sort of values are they going to pass to their children? Or is it going to get worst?
Rgds
Hi Dali,
Wahoo.. this must me one of the most popular post...
I agree with most of the stuffs said earlier but would like to brign in a few more perspective:
(a) Corporate culture. Dali - does your corporation allow room for the creative and unconventional kind? Or those who oppose their managers tend to get send to the fridge in due course ?
Does Malaysian corporation actively encouraging different views and different ways of doing things?
How do you see a young gruaduate who finishes off his work in half the time (because he is damn good), but leave office before you everyday? (Smart? lazy ?)
(a) English - I would like to point out that French, Spanish, Russian graduates speak awful english..but that do just fine in the field where their expertises lie.
Hi Dali,
Another point about schools Interacts etc club. Some of these clubs are run perhaps in the same way as a communist party where the president/exco things they are God and surpresses the views of junior members (as oppose to encourage them) to speak out/oppose when there is a good case.
(also, think about opposing UMNO president as an UMNO member even if that opposition makes perfect sense)
It is the entire Malaysian social structure that are producing these uncompetitive graduates. (albeit a few will always achieve, despite the odds).
I think it is a bit rich to say that only 'Rich kids' behave these way. I think graduates from all work of life behaves in the way you described.
The so called 'survivorship-bias'...err... more like 'appear in fron of you-bias', may also have influenced your conclusion. As CLK said - the best of these simply had not applied to your company.
Of all things, characters of a person is most important. Who shape it? Human (family and circle of friends).
Who make the spoilt brats? Parents. You have too many Datuk and TanSri in town. Sometimes their sons are bigger than you, even though you are their superior. Why? Connections and sorry to say companies need this to survive here.
Our education system also needs to improve according the world changes. (Don't sell this idea only during election.) Human interactive processes and sports need to be emphasized. Worst still sometimes 16As also cannot guarantee you a place in Uni.
In short, today's young graduates did not have the chance to go through the hardships the older one had gone through (eg recessions). Maybe, if they can taste the 1980s employment market without the aid from their parents, they will appreciate the taste of a potato or rice with soy sauce.
All abt the metaphor processes, you cannot expect a chicken to becomes phoenix /dragon overnight.
First time posting here as I kinda agree with your post most of the time but just for once I thought of adding some thought of my own.
Employers frequently complain about the lack of qualities in these grads, but as a student myself, I realised most street smart or those with leadership qualities doesn't necessarily has good grades. They are just a typical blokes scoring credit an above and has part time work while studying full time. These are the students who can earn money to sustain their lifestyle and are good with their time management. Sadly, most employers screen their applicants based on their academic results 1st before they get a chance to step into the interview room.
Am doing a postgrad in funds management here in aussie land and amazingly, it never once cross my mind that malaysian grads are so used to being spoon fed until I spent a stint with them on an assignment. When faced with an obstacles, "don't know lah, how to do?, you go ask lecturer lah" were the words that came out from their mouth or they will just stare at you blindly.
a sad case indeed. and possibly, it will turn into a neverending cycle
I believe a lot of Chinese face the dilemma to choose what language you want to master, mandarin or English? Especially in Malaysia and Singapore, English is so important in commercial world, it is a tool, a key to access various of knowledges. However, language is our soul, it has reflected our culture inherent from thousands years, it shape our mind and thinking. Some people see the Malaysia Chinese fighting to against using English to teach math and science in primary school, I think they would doubt it is necessary. Chinese school boy from Chinese speaking community should be having their "inner-conversation" with their mother tongue, which is easy for them to think and to learn in their mother tongue. Using other language to learn, it could be a mental process obstacle. One thing for sure, whatever language we learnt, we must masters it before we could use that language to express in deep and profound idea. It is extremely difficult to master Chinese and English at the same time, even Singapore MML in his book has admitted, which he wrote his experienced to learn Mandarin. It is naïve to think you would be smooth in China business world or comunity if you can speak mandarin, your mandarin should reach to certain level to understand their metaphor which related to china ancient history. However, it is matter of choice, if you choose to master your Chinese, then say bye bye to MNC companies, u unlikely reach the top or high ranking in MNC Companies, you unlikely to be some one like Dali, able to access various kind of knowledge in financial industry for the first hand information, and write such a great blog. However, the door is open for you to understand the masterpieces of china ancient knowledge and philosophy, some Chinese ancient book lost most of the meaning when translate into English. How wonderful and complicated that every Chinese character actually is a picture. You master Chinese; you should be able to swim like a fish in China man Company, where the rule is “no rule but hidden rule”. Personal opinion, Malaysia Chinese should fight on using their mother tongue to learn math and science. Whereas, the other group of Chinese forgoes the mandarin and master in English, heading to specific industry could not do without English. After all, although using different language, other race still calls us Chinese.
I think every generation has its fond memories of how much better things were in "their" era and I think the same effect is taking place here.
I am a graduate of the Malaysian/UK system and I must say that the qualities ascribed to recent graduates is not only exclusive to them but entire populations. The fact of the matter is that the ability to think critically and have this so called "street smarts" (also known as "common sense", called "court sense" in basketball, and the "gut feeling" in detective work) are qualities that an education system cannot reliably impart to you given its restrictions (ie examination system, rigid curriculum, etc. etc.).
An A grade/ first class degree never actually meant you could think critically - it was always a proxy. To think that this has changed in recent years is a good example rose tinted glasses.
I recommend that you use a better interview process - but that unfortunately means a dearth of candidates! Competition is stiffer now than before and the best graduates want the best pay (although the recent markets may erode their ambitions somewhat!)
I have 3 children under 7 years. My eldest goes to a US based homeschooling class of 3-5 students per class for 3 hours a day.
1) Responsibility
Before the class starts, the students have to sweep the floor, wipe the table and chairs, arrange them, and wash the toilet.
2) Thought process
Instead of learning mainly ABCs, they start with character building and phonics. They are encouraged to write of their activities and feelings as their school work.
Hone presentation skills-show n tell in class develops their self-confidence and public speaking from young.
3) Buy their own toys
I do not buy any toys that my children want. There is a reward chart at home for good behaviour, duties, obedience. Upon achievement of a set of "stars" they get to go to a park, stay over at friend's house, eat sushi, etc. That is the adult world that they will eventually face. If the toy costs RM20, they need to earn it by washing the car, help the maid in cleaning and other house chores @ RM1 each. Upon earning their money then they can buy their toy (sometimes with a little subsidy from us) and they actually take care of their hard-earned toys better. We are amazed that they are actually so very eager to do their chores everyday once you place a carrot in front of them.
Some say that will create calculative kids, but you mean the parents are able to be calculative with their bosses but the kids can't? We also teach them to tithe their income.
4) Creativity
Limit the TV and PC. They learn to make figurines and vehicles from old boxes and paper and sticks, coz mommy and daddy are not buying them the entire Toys r us.
A good ref. is Dare to Discipline by Dr James Dobson.
Whatever it is, children need and yearn for boundaries. We as parents can teach them by setting goals relevant to their age, teach them to be independant from young.
Yuppie parents esp love to spoil the kids with the best PS2, and oth material stuff to compensate for lack of communication and time.
My own youngest sis with straight As love to hop from job to job for a mere RM150-200 increment. I lost count of the no. of jobs. They are not interested in learning any skills, unfortunately.
Maybe I should save the money for uni for my kids to attend Tony Robbins or oth mgmt trainings instead of "factory schooling"...
I think my mom is trying to tell me something when she share this post with me.
Anyways, great article!! The points are (though I would like it to be untrue) spot on.
As one of those spoilt brats who don't know any better, I would like to post a question to everyone here.
I've realized that most of the comments here are spoken from the parents' perspective. While finding the root of the problem and breaking the cycle is important, what would you guys suggest for those young graduates like us where "the damage is done" ?
Like one of the comment said, we are lacking the "hunger" because we were stuffed like no tomorrow by our parents/education/society.. How do we get back that "hunger" ?
It would be great if the author or anyone could offer some guidance for overfed kids like us on how to be hungry again. Perhaps an update is in order? (Doesn't sound like I am asking to be spoon-fed ?? Hahaha old habits die hard)
I felt that this type of children mainly from the Chinese families. Chinese have fewer children nowadays and are pampering them without thinking of the far-reaching negative effects. Chinese are now softer than they used to be 30 years ago. The younger generation of Chinese who are going through their pampered childhood will turn out to be even softer in the future. I dread to think of the Malaysian Chinese after them. My take is that they will be bullied.
Aaron .Ho
Simple, harden the heart & push these spoiled brats to the pasture, to learn some street-smart living facts!!!!
Are you saying people who spoil their kids are rich? What's the definition of rich?
I too find that young people just want to get into 'sexy' jobs (high profile, lots of recognition, etc) and do not invest in building personal experience and work application knowledge.
From the sound of it, Dali is looking for a protege or understudy to take over his role. You are looking for a disciple aren't you, You fell you are getting old and wiser and need to pass on your knowledge to a worthy student.
If not why you so cerewet to look for a "worker/drone" to fill up a job?
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