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One-third of the younger generation between 15 and 24 or 33.5 percent dream of becoming civil servants, according to a survey the National Statistical Office released on Monday. Combined with those who wanted nothing more than to work in state-run corporations (11 percent), that means nearly half of our young people yearn to work for the state. How wonderful it would be if this stemmed from an ardent desire to serve the public. But that is not the reason: the reason they gave is that they can keep their job until retirement without fear of being laid off.
It's the privilege of the young that anyone can dream of becoming a future Bill Gates or Albert Einstein. The boundless imagination and dreams of a country's younger generation and the courage to achieve them against the odds are the raw materials and engine of the country's future. ¡°Be ambitious,¡± we tell the young. But as if they had seen all worldly sorrows and joys already, Korea¡¯s young people have no dreams, ambitions, adventurous spirit and courage, and just want something steady to see them through.
Who has stolen our young people¡¯s dreams? It was this government, which turned off the economy¡¯s growth engine by saying it will relieve people of their grievances rather than responding to their hunger. Seeing their fathers and older siblings laid off overnight and thrown into the streets amid the cold winds of recession, our younger generation have become old before their time.
The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology issued a directive a while ago to spare no cost in attracting talent in science and technology, regardless of the color of their skin or nationality. For the Chinese economy to mature from imitation to creation, China has to bring the world's top talent together. The OECD forecasts that China's R&D investment this year will reach US$136 billion, second in the world and overtaking Japan¡¯s $130 billion. R&D investment plants seeds that will sprout and grow into stalks in a few years, and in a few more years the trees will create jobs and realize the country's ambitions.
Young Chinese people growing up in the shelter of these trees will dream of becoming a future Bill Gates, Lee Kun-hee or Albert Einstein. Our young people, who will have to compete with them in the future, just want a job as a pen-pusher that will take them through to retirement. It bodes ill.
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