August 25 2008, the Straits Times, Home section, page B10. It only took a glance for me to be attracted to the headline, ‘Living it up – but at what cost?’ This issue has been brought up by the author as a form of awakening to current youths out there. When I say youths, I do not mean under-16s only; I mean the under-30s as well. Recently, youths of today have committed themselves to the highlife, one which offers them various luxuries. However, are these luxuries really necessary? At what cost?
Youths of today have indulged themselves in extravagant gifts and dine in exquisite restaurants. The taste of the first ever payday makes every youth feel that he or she has accomplished a sense of freedom. They start dining out more often, go for regular shopping sprees and even on frequent overseas getaways. However, have they ever thought about other finances? Well, according to statistics, they do not. A lot of youths these days have debts, a whopping 15% of debt cases today are due to youths. Well, I think the youths have all been to keen in treating themselves, and have forgotten of the vital things in life. Being happy is one thing, but being happy is not everything. If the income one gets is not that much, he should be saving for his future and not be treating himself to unnecessary indulgences. To me, as the youths of today seek to live life to its best, they are blinded by one thing, living life to its best itself. They have always aimed for the best quality of treating themselves, but does this mean throwing away the vital essentials of life (money)? I think not.
Money is one thing, not everything. That is why people should treasure the money they earn. They should learn how to manage they income wisely. They should learn how to set aside some dollars for savings, life insurance and most importantly, the basic needs of survival, food, water, shelter and more importantly a family. I am not trying to say that youths of today may not treat themselves to luxurious services. I am just trying to convey that if one does not have the money to do something, he should look at the thing and see whether it is beneficial to him, or whether it is just a waste of his money. Such minor things have been left out by many, especially the ones who have debts. They do thing as though they have all the money in the world and do not think of what they truly need. Simply, they just swipe they credit cards, thinking that what they did is ‘alright’, since they are not losing any (visible) cash. That brings me to my next point of technology.
The technology of today has been created for one purpose; to ease our life. Things such as credit cards allow us to pay up on the spot, without having to look for an ATM and get into the long queue just to withdraw some money. However, this fact has been blinded to some. They do not see credit cards as a help to them, they see credit cards as a necessity. They see it as a means to pay up for things more easily, deluded by the fact that such credit cards hold dark secrets within them; a whole range of ‘interests’ and ‘charges’ or in other terms, an add-up to the amount paid.
All in all, I feel that today’s youths have been blinded by the reality of life. They see life as one to pleasure themselves at anything they do. In fact, it is the complete opposite; one should cherish the life they have, and use what they have with them wisely. Youths should be more spendthrift and manage their income well. ‘What we want, should only be kept at what we have.’
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