60,70,80…
It is a nice weekend. The weather is nice enough, and we also have Chow Yiu-fai, who have indeed made this weekend even nicer. If you like Hong Kong pops back in the 1990s, or you happen to be the fans of Anthony Yiu Ming Wong and Tat Ming, you must have known Chow, the lyrics writer who was born in the 1960s and has played an active role in the late 1980s and 1990s even till now.
At the Wang Ze Sheng Hall of Tsinghua University, the crowds are cheering and laughing, amused so much by the talks given by Chow, the man of 1960s.
“How many of you belong to the ‘Ba Ling Hou’ generation (Chinese expression for ‘Post-80s’, people who are born in the 1980s)?” Chow asks. Most of the audiences raise their hands, joyfully. Chow was most active in Hong Kong of the 1990s, but as it seems to be, he is also welcomed by the new generation in the Mainland. Among those who are born in the late 1960s, Chow is one of those who remain active and popular.
“Have you come to the wrong place? This talk is supposed for elder people…” Chow asks, making fun of himself.
“No!” the heightened crowd shouts. They do know Chow well as he is one the finest lyrics writer in Hong Kong and maybe China. As he says, he is old enough to be the Daddy of most of his fans down there, but he is far from being alienated to them.
At this moment, the distance between the ‘Post-60s’ (Liu Ling Hou) and the ‘Post-80s’ (Ba Ling Hou) could never be any closer. Unlike the ‘Post-70s’ (Qi Ling Hou) who tend to regard themselves responsible and accountable since they all felt that they had so much to fulfill, the 60s and 80s enjoy a relatively peaceful period when they are old enough to embrace the society. When the 60s grew as old as 18, they have enjoyed a short however memorable age of passions and ideals. When the 80s turn 18, they have enjoyed a similar enthusiastic time, though in a different way.
Many have said that the 70s were a generation of sadness since they have been carrying too many hopes, responsibilities, and perhaps pains. They were born in an age of chaos, and they while they grew up and was just about to do something real, they were faced with equally great challenges. They place the needs of their country upon the dreams of themselves. They are always thinking and discussing. The think they have formed a generation that is capable of restoring the country. The ‘missions’ they are bound to achieved, either distributed by their nation or themselves, have made them doubtful of everything they have seen because they ‘knew’ that there were no bright side ahead, only obstacles. Time goes by, but this skepticism they had remains.
Unlike the 70s who are always linked to collectivism, the 60s may have understood individualism much better, well, simply because they were more able to do so.
In his newly published book “Get Away, Let me Sing for the Eighties” Lao Liu wrote, “There have been quite a few memorial ages in men’s history, the French Revolutionary, for instance… But there is few that could match the college days in China of 1980s…” The 1980s is an age when the ‘Post-60s’ studied in universities where they openly read the world; when people work with low payment and high passion; when few people had their own cars while their hearts traveled far; when idealism outnumbered realism… The story of “84 Charring Cross Road” would actually have happened. There was few effective ways for communication, but people were much well connected. Things happened in the movie “Jane Austin Book Club” which seems fake and posy to us today were ordinary by then, and it was just what Lao Liu would do with his intimates. In the 1980s, even “Love is interpreted in another way”, Lao Liu wrote.
When the majority are celebrating the 30 anniversary of the grand ‘Openness’ of China, the 60s could not help memorizing the age of 1980s.
The 80s, however, were far too young to enjoy the glorious age of 1980s. Many of them just born, some hardly speak, were totally ignorant to the fact that they were living in such a vibrant age with great freedom. And when they grow old enough, they are lost, only to find the once-in-a-blue-moon age has already past.
There are probably thousands of words that could be used to ironically describe the age the ‘Post-80s’ are now living in: materialistic, superficial, fickle, fast-moving and full of seduction. True, the ‘Post-80s’ do understand individualism, but in a different way from the 60s. For some, individualism means selfishness. We have less to say about the society because they enjoy material success under this system, and therefore, we tend to care less about their independent thinking. Some 70s think we are the children of globalization rather than our nation. They think “we live the same life with our counterparts in New York and London”, but actually we have witnessed the distinctions between East and West have become even more evident. The world seems to be become more diverse, but we tend to think more alike. I am longing to sing for the 1980s, but after all, what are our lives? What lifestyle are we leading?
Wang Xiao Feng, an influential blogger, once quoted an interesting example in his blog：“…I was always consulted by young people for the path to success. I have never replied to any one of those emails as I am a very impatient person. But I can tell you this: If one man can only fill full by eating 6 buns, than I may have had 5. As for young people, you only start from the 1 or 2 buy you already start wondering what the feeling is to be full. I have nothing much to tell but only encourage you to have more…”This quote would perfectly end this blah-blah-blah article.
So, as for the 80s, we shall do nothing but to keep eating our buns. Good old days would never come again, and there is no time machine so far.
