The QQ Generation

Cyril. J. Law, Jr. *MA in Philosophy, USJ

Are you one of the near 650 million users who own a QQ account? QQ.com is more a ‘mainland’ thing, so to speak. I cannot imagine any city highschooler in China who does not in some way, shape or form communicate through QQ. It is basically the sinicised version of the once popular instant messaging software called ICQ (I Seek You). I came to learn that youngsters on the mainland have the quaint stubborn habit of having their cell phones easily stolen or simply lost. Thus in order to keep in contact with a person, his or her cell phone number isn’t as reliable as a QQ account number, which sticks and can rarely get cancelled (I already tried. You just can’t unregister yourself from QQ! I wish paradise is something like that).
    On the surface there doesn’t seem to be much difference between QQ and counterparts like MSN or Facebook. But in reality QQ is the vehicle driving a generation of Chinese youths towards the cutting edge of techni-cyber virtuosity.
    Each QQ comes with a personal Q-zone homepage. There you will find on exhibition the owner’s latest fashion statement, trendiest color scheme matches, and all sorts of visual wizardry. Although there are pre-set templates for these homepages, you can easily trace the owner’s personal trait embossed throughout. They are mostly chic and sassy, while some are just posh beyond words. 
    I often make the remark that mainland youngsters have beaten Hong Kong and Macau Canto-kids aeons ahead already when it comes to the creative realms of sensibility, acuity and taste. And I singularly attribute it to one successful factor: the ubiquitous pirating business throughout China. Latest designs, patterns, styles, sounds and images from the world over have been keep on flooding young impressionable Chinese minds via the internet, movies and goods in mega-malls. No wonder.
    Another decidedly salient feature of QQ homepages is the diary section. They are far more “literary” than Facebook in depth and scope, and you are instantly lured by that revelatory charm seeping through those intimately personal anecdotes, consisting of reflections on the angst, anguish and aspirations of a modern Chinese. Those soul-searching entries that I have come across the past few years are simply startling. Chinese youngsters who know that they will face a so-called career prospect of paying 30 years + of housing mortgage on a meager salary are resorting to introspection: they yearn for an interior nook of psychological freedom where the external conditions of a fraud-fraught socialist society will hopefully not care to intrude. To my surprise, a good number of friends whom I have chatted with still feel that a free marriage based on true love is too good to be true! A luxurious dream at best. Some young adults working in cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai say they are expected by their peasant parents to go back to the villages and get married with eligible partners from the tight-knit clannish neighborhood. Result? They want to enjoy as much “free and romantic love (and sex)” as they can in the cities before embarking on that sad journey to “old home” Shaanxi, Sichuan or Hunan.
    I hope that by sharing these snippets of observations, our solicitous readers may be prompted to help bring to light some of the more hidden concerns that the present QQ generation is struggling to cope with. 

©MDTimes/ University of Saint Joseph