Hey millennials, you’re doing fine

By Ginnette Ng

GRAPHIC: DIANE LIM

Facebook is usually a space for sharing new memes or discovering easy dinner recipes. But of late, it has been inundated with articles beginning with “millennials are too” or “millennials need to”.  It feels like we can never stop disappointing the generations that have come before us.

Millennials — a term that was merely used to describe those of us who grew up with information technology — has become more condescending these days.

I was disheartened after reading The Straits Times’ coverage of the Social Entrepreneurship Forum last month, where similar comments were made by our Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education.

Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said he was worried about how some millennials adopt a “what’s in it for me?” attitude towards community service and charity.

I found his comments unjustified, partly because they were based on a survey of mostly Republic Polytechnic students, where two in five could not name an organisation they would support.  

While this is not representative of the entire millennial generation, which encompasses everyone aged 18 to 34, the article led to many non-millennials nodding their heads in agreement with his comments.

This is despite research which found more millennials wanting to make a positive impact on the environment, at 72 per cent of those surveyed in Nielsen’s 2015 global report.

Some of my friends and classmates, for instance, actively organize annual trips overseas for community service programmes and raise money for charities.

These might be modest attempts at improving society, but they still beat doing nothing at all. At least we are trying.  

Not to mention, the self-serving attitude Prof Faishal spoke of is neither new nor exclusive to our generation.

Selfishness is an innately human characteristic — a survival instinct. Russian philosopher Ayn Rand has argued that it would be irrational to act against one’s own interest and happiness.

Yet, some from our parents’ generation have criticised our preoccupation with finding the dream job, lending to stereotypes of millennials being “spoiled” or “entitled”.

No one should have to feel ashamed about their pursuit of happiness, and that includes us millennials too.

That is why some of us actively try to transform what we love into a career, and these millennials should be commended.

Take Ms Viola Tan and Ms Rachel Lim, co-founders of clothing label Love, Bonito, for example. What started out as a blogshop in Ms Tan’s days in the former School of Humanities and Social Sciences at NTU, has now become her full-time career heading a regionally successful brand.

Indeed, the “what’s in it for me?” attitude can push us to think and plan for our future, spurring us on towards finding creative solutions that can satisfy both the wants and needs in our lives.  

Some of us will be inventing the next big thing; while others are already thinking of ways to support our family when we graduate.

Instead of trying to prove the Baby Boomers wrong, or explaining ourselves to Generation X, we should continue to do what we know is best for us.