Teenagers...

Well, I did mention on my last post that I would comment on the changes in education sytem. anyhow, I just could not generate enough points yet to change it. So, looks like you readers just have to wait. Anyhow, I did have some thoughts about teenagers, us...hm...
Teenagers. You see them loitering around the shopping malls in the city centre, sitting at the sidewalk cafes and sipping branded coffee. Those discoloured t-shirts that seems to have undergone at least thousand washings cost over a hundred ringgit, you can bet your bottom dollar on that, and that is at a year end clearance sale. On ordinary days, just buying one will scorch an enormous hole through your pocket; you will not have one left.
And never in my dear life can I understand why the boys must wear their pants hanging gingerly at the end of their hips, looking as if they would just drop off anytime, exposing more than half of their briefs. There is a perfect logical explanation for this, they will declare. After having to spend a fortune on their designer underwear, it makes no sense if no one can see them at all. Gone are the days our mothers used to make those boxer shorts for us with a choice between rubber waistbands or the tie-it yourself variety. Now they are saying that such loose underwear is healthier as far as one's posterity is concerned. But does it really matter in this modern days and age when, more often than not, it is quite impossible to tell the difference between the masculine and the feminine genders? Masculine? That is the last word I would use to describe those skinny, punitive species so pale from the sheer lake of sun and so scrawny for want of some vigorous exercise.
Try walking a little bit closer and you can catch a whiff of expensive fragrance. Calvin Klein no less that may cost an arm or a leg. A 100ml bottle may cost over RM100 and some can even double that, believe it or not. But just when you think you have seen it all, you hear the tone of the cellular phone. No, you don't have one yourself; they are much too expensive for an ordinary salary-earner like you and despite working your fingers to the bone from dawn to dusk, there's no way you can fork out enough dough to pay the bill, access fees and all. Any how, seeing believes and right before your very eyes, there is this young upstart flashing the latest model from NOKA, MOTOROLA and what-have-you? One of those most definitely comes with a four-figure price tag. How can they afford it, you wonder, when you are at your wit's end trying to make ends meet?
And hanging out in one of those side-walk cafes is not cheap either, albeit the senselessness in the whole indulgence. In countries in Europe, it is understandable that this kind of thing should be a preference considering their cooler climate, the fresh air and the milder sunlight in the region. But who would in their right minds would want to do such thing along Bintang Walk where the vehicles zoom past non-stop at neck-breaking speed, leaving them to inhale all the poisonous fumes and oozing sweat from every pore? I strongly suspect that the carbon monoxide must have gone straight up to their brains and that explains their obvious lack of grey matter. Furthermore, the prices of those minute paper cups of coffee are so exorbitant that one will have to keep it in the mouth for hours until the flavor is completely gone before swallowing to get the money's worth. For the price they have to pay, I would think at the very least, they should serve the beverage in something more sophisticated or classier like imported fine delicate china, complete with a silver spoon that you can twiddle with, for want of something better to do at mundane places like this.
Our parents were aghast when we listen to Elvis the Pelvis, or the mop-topped Beatles. Even the ear-splitting heavy metal music of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Grand Funk Railroad is mere child's play compare to what they listen today. I would not insult my knowledge of music, limited though it may be, and call them songs for the simple reason that there is no melody, some drum beats and a booming bass while the singer chant like a deliriously hysterical Chinese medium in a trance. Do not, under any circumstances try to make out what the lyrics are all about for heaven's sake. I tried doing that once and I blushed out in embarrassment at what I could hear- obscenities, obscenities and obscenities. Time and again, whenever I can spare the time, I will drop by my regular coffee shop for my favorite fried rice and more than one occasion, I would chance upon some coarse individual plonked at the next table with thunder roaring voice and very sentence punctuated generously with foul language and four letter words, making me wonder about his home upbringing and education. These days, the teenagers are exposed to all that trash and vulgarity neatly-packaged in the popular songs of the day, all in a RM30-40 compact disc and the portable player does not come cheap either.
And have you taken a look at their hair lately? They come in all colors, the more popular ones being blonde or brunette- and I am referring to the boys especially, by the way, if they want to look English, they should at least put in some effort to learn the language and make sure they can speak like one, but horrors of horrors! The moment they open their mouths, all the English you can hear, if any at all, is the miserably, mangled mess of the Malaysian variety, otherwise aptly known as Manglish.
Teenagers! Sometimes people cast one look at them and they often shake their heads and sigh. These are our generation of today. These are going to be the leaders of our tomorrow.