Figure | Wen Xie Kuang Shi
"We are the chosen generation," said a post-90s generation in Macao. After the return, with the opening of the gaming industry, Macao's economy has developed rapidly. Macao's "returning generation" has met the best times, but it is also facing pressure and challenges.
Most young people in Macao want to be civil servants or policemen, with high salaries and good benefits. Some young people even give up going to college after graduating from high school and go to police schools instead. Kim, who works four jobs at the same time, has different ideas from them. He doesn't care what career he is in. He thinks that it is the most practical way to make money and save it in the bank. After graduating from college, Kim applied to a public welfare activity center in Macao to be responsible for office design, equipment management and other daily affairs. After work, he started a design company with two friends, and employed an employee to run a milk tea shop.
After graduating from high school, Kim could have been recommended to Jinan University in the mainland, but his family preferred to let him stay in Macao. He wanted to study while working in Macao, so he chose the IT major of Macao University of Science and Technology. "Learning IT is just because they are good at mathematics, and they don't think much about it. As long as they can get a college diploma, they can." In Macao, mainland students attach importance to learning, and local students are more enthusiastic about social practice. Kim has been working part-time since his freshman year. In addition to the tuition that is borne by his family, his living expenses during the four years of college are all earned by himself. In college, Kim worked three part-time jobs: field clerk, designer and delivery clerk. Usually, he needs to take care of two jobs a day, delivering documents during the day and delivering takeout at night. When he graduated, he deposited 80000 patacas (about 69600 yuan) in his bank account.
Now, Kim will take delivery after work in the daytime. Five hours a night, three to four days a week, three or four thousand a week. On the evening of September 19, Kim went to the delivery store to work from 7 p.m. and received the first order half an hour later. By 11:00, he had delivered five orders in total. Kim said that part-time jobs are common in Macao. The place here is small and the house price is high. Now the average price is 80000 (MOP, about 66900 yuan) per square meter, and the median price of a house is 5 million (MOP, about 4.35 million yuan). It is difficult for young people to buy houses in Macao, but Kim hopes that through his own efforts, he can buy houses, cars and watches in the future.
"Sometimes, I feel that life in Macao is very stressful, and upward mobility is too difficult. Now the Internet is developed, and everyone can see the outside world, and see the life of the rich." Kim's parents are ordinary wage earners, so he is very frugal in life. "The advantage of going out to deliver food is that you can have a meal in the store at night to save money." His goal is to do business and try to do better. He felt that he was not decisive enough and often had difficulty in making up his mind in the face of opportunities. However, career still occupies a very important position in his heart. At 26, he never considered getting married and starting a family. He wanted to start a career first.
Although Macao is a gambling city, Kim only occasionally goes to the casino during the New Year to try his luck and get some money. The custom here is that three days before the Spring Festival, local people will go to the casino to play. In Kim's memory, when she was a child, Macao was full of wooden houses, which was very different from today. After the handover, with the prosperity of the gambling industry, Macao has more and more high-rise buildings, more and more prosperous, and better social welfare. Kim therefore said that this generation of young people in Macao was "the selected generation". But such Macao also worried him: the mainland's economy continued to rise, there were many opportunities to earn money, and Macao had no new jobs except gambling. In Kim's eyes, Shenzhen is a place full of gold. When he has the opportunity, he also wants to develop in the mainland.
Portuguese culture has left many traces in Macao. For example, the architectural style of the city, the steering wheel position of the car, the eating habits, etc. The official languages of Macao are Chinese and Portuguese. Macao people who can speak Portuguese will have advantages in applying for government departments. Lu Jinting, a 23-year-old girl from Macao, got the convenience of this language environment and chose Portuguese in high school. Now, she can communicate freely with Portuguese speakers.
After graduating from high school, Lu Jinting wanted to go to Beijing Sport University, but her English score was not enough, so she chose the physical education of Chengdu Institute of Physical Education and took the long jump course. The reason why she chose mainland universities was that Lu Jinting had a deep liking for the mainland since she was young. When she was in primary school, she and her family had traveled to the mainland. During the junior high school and senior high school, the school also had many opportunities to communicate with the mainland. Before college, Lu Jinting practiced long-distance running, martial arts and sanda, but they were not professional. She envies the PE students in her class, who have a special specialty.
For Lu Jinting, life in the mainland is very different from that in Macao. For example, in the mainland, it is often seen that people throw garbage and spit everywhere, which will be fined in Macao. At first, she also had various maladjustments. They can't eat spicy food. There is a gap between them and mainland students. Living in collective dormitories sometimes causes conflicts. Later, she told herself to focus on learning. She spent most of her spare time in the library, and her grades jumped from the bottom of her freshman year to the third in her junior year. On holidays, she will also eat Sichuan food and see pandas.
At present, Lu Jinting returned to a middle school in Macao as an intern PE teacher in her senior year. She believes that Macao has good welfare and life is too comfortable. In Macao, she will not have to work so hard, but in the mainland, she will be much more enthusiastic. She has been to many places in the mainland. In the mainland, she can see the multifaceted nature of the society: the people in Chengdu are good at living, the simple farmers, and the children who have difficulty in studying. After the internship, Lu Jinting plans to apply for graduate students from mainland schools. In the future, she still wants to stay in the mainland to study for a doctor.
Because he likes helping others and is interested in psychology, Bird chose Taiwan's University of Chinese Culture to study social work. After graduating in 2014, Bird returned to Macao. Now, at the age of 27, she has become a social worker in Taipa Comprehensive Service Center of Macao Federation of Trade Unions. She said that five years ago, not many people in Macao were willing to work as social workers because of their hard work and poor salary. In recent years, the Macao Social Work Bureau has proposed the professional development of social workers, and improved the treatment of social workers. More and more people are working as social workers. At present, the market has been saturated.
The Macao Federation of Trade Unions has been established for 17 years. Taipa's aborigines all know this place. When someone comes, social workers will receive them. Bird has worked here for five years. She is mainly responsible for the counseling of family parents, children and the elderly, including case counseling, organizing activities and home visits. Bird said that social work requires patience and carefulness, and bears a lot of pressure, but she likes this job very much and intends to take it as a long-term career.
Now, Macao people can also shop from the mainland's e-commerce platform, but express delivery is a bit troublesome, and can only be sent to the pickup point, and the express fee is relatively expensive. Bird often buys clothes and cosmetics online to relieve work pressure. She often goes to Zhuhai to eat because it is delicious, cheap and fresh. Bird also saw the rapid development of the mainland, but she felt that her roots were in Macao, and she would continue to stay in Macao for development.
A Long is a child of mixed race between China and Myanmar. He was born in Macao at the age of 28. After graduating from high school, he did not go to college and learned some painting and design skills by himself in his spare time. When he left the society at the age of 18, Aaron worked as a social worker, worked at McDonald's, and later worked as an illustrator in a film and television company. After a year as an illustrator, he felt that his creativity was limited. So he quit his job. This year, he and his friends jointly opened a one person noodle eating house. The business in the store is pretty good. He hopes that when the business in the store stabilizes, he can hire another employee to do things he likes.
From Monday to Friday, Aaron is responsible for the cashier in the store and helps the kitchen. At the weekend, he went to a painting class for children. In addition, he will also receive some lists of cartoons drawn on the Internet. Most importantly, he set himself a goal: to draw four comic strips of his chops a week.
Similarly, when drawing cartoons, Aaron will also distinguish work from self creation. He doesn't like to paint the content specified by others, which is not enthusiastic. If it is his favorite content, he will design many stories. A Long likes to use cartoons to express small things in life and show his sense of humor. For example, a friend asked me why I didn't go out, because I still had to go home, so I didn't go out.
In Macao, A Long feels lucky. In 2009, when his income was low, he applied for free social housing (social housing, a kind of public housing in Macao, which is provided to low-income and difficult families in the form of low or even free rent), and has lived until now. He thinks that although Macao is small and sometimes boring, the scenery is beautiful and the overall feeling is very comfortable. "Macao is a safe area for me."
"I am very happy to see my works now. These are all things I want to express. I hope I can go further." A Long applied for a sum of money to support his creation. He wants to do a good job in the spareribs series. He expects his works to become popular, famous, valuable, and can produce many peripheral goods.
BoBo is a senior at St. Joseph's University in Macau, and also a part-time artist. She has been a part-time model since high school. In his four years of college, BoBo didn't ask his family for a penny. She earns her own tuition of 40000 yuan a year. She said that the family conditions are ordinary, no money will not go to college.
Costume shop guide, coffee shop attendant, racing model, TV artist... These are all part-time jobs BoBo did during his university years. In the clothing store, we also wear suits in summer. We stand for 8 hours every day, walk around with clothes, and our feet often wear blisters; As a model for public relations activities, you should always stand at the door and keep smiling. At the end of the day, your mouth will be stiff with laughter. BoBo described his college life as busy and tired, but his study was poor.
BoBo has a clear understanding of the differences between the mainland and Macao through his tourism experience in several cities in the mainland. In the mainland, people don't bring money with them, and they can do everything with a mobile phone. In Macao, they use more cash; The mainland is very big. She likes the big stalls in the mainland, especially the crawfish. In BoBo's eyes, the scenery of the mainland is also richer and more beautiful than that of Macao. She has always wanted to go to Jiuzhaigou, but unfortunately she failed in the earthquake. On the graduation trip, BoBo wants to visit Yading and Zhangjiajie in Daocheng.
After graduation, she wants to learn cooking and then open a vegetarian restaurant. In her opinion, if she can stabilize in Macao, life will be very happy. The small Macao is like an island of safety, making the young people here feel comfortable and comfortable. At the same time, when choosing the future, the mainland has given this session of Macao youth more opportunities.
