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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-27 07:50 A generation of mortgage slaves The post-1980 generation have been dubbed the independent, well educated, and creative generation. But now, they have to confront an inconvenient fact - the sky-high housing prices. Since housing prices in Chinese cities are dauntingly high, most young people have to spend 15 to 20 years' income to buy a flat. Many of them have to rely on their parents to make the down payment. Shackled by the heavy burden of mortgages, they dare not set up business or even raise a child. There should be diversity of consumption in an affluent society. The younger generation should not only have places to live, but also domestic bliss and happiness to raise a child. However, when haunted by the thousands of yuan due in mortgage every month, how can they think about other affairs? The mortgage burden has deprived them of happiness. I have talked with a graduate from Peking University. He told me that he had not invited his parents to Beijing because he did not own a flat and felt ashamed to let his parents know that. When I heard of it, I felt immensely disappointed. Twenty years ago, if you asked a Peking University graduate about his aspiration, he would reply he was willing to strive for the prosperity and democracy of China. Ten years ago, if you asked the same question, he would say he wanted to be the Bill Gates of China. But now their dreams have become owning just a flat. The sky-high housing prices have made many young people slaves to mortgage, who stifle their aspirations and ambitions. It is lamentable that almost a whole generation of young people have become mortgage slaves. Hui Hu http://huihudichan.blog.sohu.com/129977138.html HK-Shenzhen border crossing I recently traveled from Hong Kong to Shenzhen airport via bus. The border-crossing building is very, very long, several hundred meters. Passengers leave the Hong Kong bus, collect their luggage, walk through the building for several checks (health, immigration, customs), and then get on another bus on the Shenzhen side. I had a lot of luggage. There were absolutely no luggage carts available. There were no porters available for hire. I walked the length of the building three times to carry my luggage. Good thing that I am a fairly strong 65-year-old man. I was not the only person with a lot of luggage. Someone has taken a clear decision that there shall be no luggage carts available. I would be most interested to learn the logic behind this decision. I guess that all of the airports in China that supply luggage carts are making an error. J. Johnson via e-mail Readers' comments are welcome. Please send mail to Letters to the Editor, China Daily, 15 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029 China. Send faxes to (86-10) 6491-8377. Send e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you. (China Daily 08/27/2009 page8) |
