Pic: Courtesy youtube.com
“Sending resumes is like fishing for a needle in the ocean”
– Wang (a Chinese lab technician)
The phrase, ‘bai lan’ (let it rot), means a voluntary retreat from pursuing certain goals because one realises they are simply too difficult to achieve.
The phrase, ‘tang ping’ (lying flat), means rejecting gruelling competition for a low desired life.
Similar meaning phrases also include: ‘to smash a cracked pot’ and ‘dead pigs are not afraid of boiling water’.
In recent days, these phrases and gaining popularity amongst the youth of China, as severe competition and high social expectations are making them frustrated, despaired, and dejected. Shrinking economic opportunities and mounting uncertainties are fuelling a sense of hopelessness in their ranks.
Frustrated Feelings.
- Chinese youth are frustrated about the prohibitively expensive property rates.
- China’s young adults are resisting marriage.
- In spite of relaxation in the one-child policy, the younger lot are reluctant to have more than one child due to unaffordability.
- The younger generation feels they cannot make long-term plans due to future uncertainties.
- Youth feel they cannot pursue their profession of interest.
- Youth feel a sense of failure because of unrealistically high and ever-increasing goals set by employers.
- The sense of hopelessness among the young is further exacerbated by shrinking economic opportunities.
- Strict lockdown and confinement at home during the pandemic have further added to the woes.
- China’s labor market is shrinking.
- Unemployment is rising and it is hard to find jobs after graduation.
- The increasing gap between the rich and the poor is another cause of despair.
- The pressures of working for long hours and the high cost of raising a family are resulting in early burnout.
- The young people are increasingly feeling that the general progress of the country is at the cost of their own personal advancements.
China’s Worry
These popular phrases reflect a shared social emotion prevailing amongst the youth in China.
Chinese youth have taken to protesting against the culture of being overworked and underpaid with a new form of resistance that has steadily gained momentum on the country’s social media and microblogging sites.
This attitude of letting things rot, amongst the younger generation is being caused by a lack of social mobility and increased uncertainty in today’s China.
This is a matter of worry for China because the young people in China are giving up and embracing the deteriorating situation, rather than trying to improve it.
Recently, China’s president Xi Jinping encouraged the country’s youth to establish “great ideals” and incorporate their personal goals into the “bigger picture” of the Chinese nation and people.
Bottom Line
Young people in China, exhausted by a culture of hard work with seemingly little reward, are highlighting the need for a lifestyle change by “lying flat”.
Lesson
It is important to balance between Nation’s goals and citizen’s aspirations.
Question
Is it a phenomenon prevailing only in China?
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References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_ping
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/26/the-rise-of-bai-lan-why-chinas-frustrated-youth-are-ready-to-let-it-rot?CMP=share_btn_tw&s=08
https://www.firstpost.com/world/explained-tang-ping-or-lying-flat-movement-initiated-by-chinese-youth-that-resists-increased-work-pressures-9747781.html
https://radii.co/article/let-it-rot
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57348406
Credits
To all the online sites and channels.
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