Sunday 11 October 2009

financial insecurities? yeah, they affect us too.

Instead of writing scene summaries for Twelfth Night by Shakespeare or studying for my C1/C2 maths test next week, I watched all of Glee yesterday- which, in my defense, is only 6 episodes long right now. Then again, that doesn't completely justify the hourlong session I had reacquainting myself with my DS Lite and Suikoden Tierkreis.

So, I vowed yesterday night I would do work today.

Which isn't really how things turned out.

I got bored of Suikoden Tierkreis a couple of hours ago, after I realised the secret character I've been trying to unlock looks like my dog's butthole. So I began researching future careers and universities with the aid of the most useful invention other than Muji's portable hole puncher: Google.

I'm really interested in the performing arts and writing, so I went on to research salaries and degrees in english literature. And I was horrified to find that-

Most graduates earn 22,000 - 27,000 pounds a year.

Nearly half of all performers get paid less than 6,000 pounds a year.

Most fiction writers get paid less than that.

Which is grossly depressing.

To be honest, I'm quite terrified. I think, especially growing up in a money-oriented place like Hong Kong, a good salary matters a lot more than it should. And having an Asian mother doesn't exactly help either. Take for instance a conversation/argument I had with her a couple of weeks ago:

Mum: If you go into finance, you'll make good money.
Me: You know, I don't have to make money to be happy.

And she subsequently laughed harshly at my reply, which was demoralising. She then went on to tell her sister on the phone, while laughing again, "My daughter thinks she'll be happy if she doesn't make money. How stupid of her."

So now I'm not exactly sure where I'm going. I don't think anybody in my year is sure, I think we all have this overwhelming fear of financial insecurity that's been drilled into us by our parents and Hong Kong society. The only people unaffected are a couple of kids whose lives revolve around getting into med-school and my best friend Kaffreen who wants to do fashion/acting, sod the bad salary.

But I swear, I'll figure this all out by the end of next year.

Maybe.

- meg

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