Growing up to uncertainty
When I stepped into the university job fair, I felt a mix of excitement and unease. The future is a blur. The COVID-19 pandemic, wars, economic crises and technological revolutions have shaped the world we live in; the idea of “becoming an adult” is intimidating and often overwhelming.
Over the past few years, many young people have lived under a constant cloud of uncertainty. The pandemic changed how we study and work, making remote learning and working the new normal, leaving many of us feeling disconnected.
Then came the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and energy shortages — everyday expenses kept climbing and so did our worries about financial security. Meanwhile, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence made the future of many traditional jobs increasingly unclear. Would what I have studied still be relevant a few years from now? Would my career be replaced by automation?
In Taiwan, many college graduates still earn about NT$30,000 a month, painfully inadequate compared with skyrocketing living and housing costs. The dream of financial independence, of moving out of our parents’ homes or buying an apartment, feels out of reach.
Some classmates are preparing for civil service exams in search of stability; others plan to study abroad or look for better opportunities overseas. With growing tensions across the Taiwan Strait and instability around the globe, the future seems filled with even more uncertainties. How can we find our place in a world that feels like it is constantly shifting?
Growing up in this era means that becoming an adult is not just about landing a stable job or starting a family — it is about having the courage to move forward even when anxious and unsure. We might not be able to control the future, but we can shape it little by little with each choice we make.
He Guo-zhen
Kaohsiung
In the past month, two important developments are poised to equip Taiwan with expanded capabilities to play foreign policy offense in an age where Taiwan’s diplomatic space is seriously constricted by a hegemonic Beijing. Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) led a delegation of Taiwan and US companies to the Philippines to promote trilateral economic cooperation between the three countries. Additionally, in the past two weeks, Taiwan has placed chip export controls on South Africa in an escalating standoff over the placing of its diplomatic mission in Pretoria, causing the South Africans to pause and ask for consultations to resolve
An altercation involving a 73-year-old woman and a younger person broke out on a Taipei MRT train last week, with videos of the incident going viral online, sparking wide discussions about the controversial priority seats and social norms. In the video, the elderly woman, surnamed Tseng (曾), approached a passenger in a priority seat and demanded that she get up, and after she refused, she swung her bag, hitting her on the knees and calves several times. In return, the commuter asked a nearby passenger to hold her bag, stood up and kicked Tseng, causing her to fall backward and
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
RSS