Chope: You Young People!

"That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age." – from Dazed & Confused (1993).

There's a tendency for young people to want to be older. When I was 17, I wanted to be 18 so I could get into clubs without having to do some fancy modification to my IC. Then, when I was 20, I was eager to turn 21 so I could get into even nicer clubs. And vote. But now, I have to pause to think before I remember how old I am. My age matters to me these days about as much as the number of beers I've had the night before.

Yet, for some reason, I'm starting to notice some differences between myself and those only a few years younger. Blame technology, evil Western culture or those pesky terrorists, but it feels as if I'm getting older faster, while some of you are getting younger just as quickly—I don't get some of you young people.

Take, for instance, your love of blogging about yourselves. I love blogs more than I do sliced bread, and I read all sorts of blogs, but yet I still struggle to understand why personal blogs are so popular with some of you. Yes, I get it, you went to eat at KLCC's food court with your friend and you spilt your drink on your nasi kandar. Why the fuck do you think you need to tell people, complete with photos and all? Or maybe you were late to work and your boss yelled at you so badly that you had to share your hurt with the world Well, maybe if you weren't up all night blogging, you would’ve arrived on time.

I suppose people my age don't feel as comfortable sharing details about our personal lives with anyone who has Internet access. Then again, I might be generalising, based on my own personality. I mean, I tried Friendster for awhile, but then I started getting messages from people I avoided for a reason. MySpace? More like "get out of my face, and give me my space."

I go to Zouk, yet I still can't understand Ghetto Heaven. Guys dress like they're so cool they need hats, oversized clothes and even jackets to keep warm. The girls, on the other hand look like they're so hot, any less fabric would cause a heat stroke—not that I'm complaining, but still…

The rate of technological advancements and economic development in recent years has certainly accelerated the emergence of a gap between KL-ites of different generations. I come from a time when going to the mamak meant eating at an unnamed, unlicensed stall on the roadside. You were lucky if there was a radio playing, as compared to the huge TVs that are standard these days. I didn’t have a cellphone until I was 22. Kids today would’ve worn down several before losing their virginity. And I seriously don't get One Tree Hill, Akademi Fantasia or whatever else that’s popular these days.

If there already exists such a gap—albeit an exaggerated one—between me and those born only years later, what on earth could possibly be the gap between the real older generation and young KL-ites of today? I mean, if some of the stories I've heard are to be believed, many of the older generation had to walk miles and miles to school, and they ate only rice and kicap for sustenance. Considering that even pets eat better than that these days, how could they possibly understand the difference between a cappuccino and a Frappuccino? IM and e-mail? Techno and electro?

Well, I don't think they do. And that's the problem. I don't think they have any idea what to do with us. So they throw all sorts of random things at us, like National Service. It's for your own good, they say. To foster racial harmony. Oh, like keris-waving racial harmony? They also say we're unappreciative of our history and then they try to blame us for the present. Our tourism minister even called bloggers, the majority of whom are young, liars. The authorities raid clubs, beat up protesters, threaten university students with expulsion for having an opinion... the list goes on. As much as I’m bewildered by those younger than myself, I really wonder what goes on in the heads of some of the older folks.

Brian Yap still carries around an old identity card. Tell him why a MyKad is better at brian@freeform.com.my