Yet another book on China's low-income community of college graduates has come out, by none other than Professor Lian Si, the celebrated author of Ant Tribe. He has now released a sequel - Whose Time?
|
Seven college graduates rent a room in Changchun City. Some of them can't resist the tempt of playing poker when preparing for the entrance exams for postgraduate schools. [CFP/China.org.cn] |
The title was inspired by a letter from He Ming, who considers himself an ant emotionally though he lives a much better life than those crowding in Tangjialing, a village on the outskirts of Beijing.
"I don't belong here when I can't afford an apartment. I don't want this kind of life if I have to live without respect, rights and justice, even if I can afford it," He said.
"Everybody in this society feels insecure," he said. "Ants are materially shaky and the second-generation rich are morally insecure. Who can escape anxiety if our social elites are migrating abroad to find security?"
As the first-ever national report on the "ant tribe," Lian's team extended its investigation to take in nearly 5,000 interviewees in various cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing, Xi'an and Nanjing between March and August this year.
The first book in the series - a comprehensive report on Beijing's humble graduates struggling to find a lifeline against overwhelming odds in a glamorous city last September - became an overnight sensation.
Latest statistics show that the life of the ant tribe, despite widespread public concern, has become even more difficult.
With an average monthly salary of 1,904 yuan ($287.31), 80 percent of them can hardly make ends meet by spending 1,867 yuan ($281.73) on rent, food and communication.
They pay 411 yuan ($62.02) for sharing small, rented apartments on the city's outskirts, higher than in 2008 and 2009 due to the surging house prices.
Around 83 percent of the ants choose to stay in big cities for more opportunities to fulfill their dreams, while 10 percent do it for their family. Only 0.4 percent expect to look good as a city-dweller.
More than half the ants are not ready to become mortgage slaves, while 23.1 percent will stick to their plan of living in big cities.
Nearly 30 percent of the ants graduated from key universities. The survey indicates a worsening employment situation as 7.2 percent of the ants have a master's degree and 50 percent have bachelor's degree.
Lian is surprised to find that more interviewees blame society for their misfortune, while fewer think they are personally responsible for their plight.
"It shows that more ants have realized that they can't change the situation by themselves," he said.
Some families back in the rural hometowns, with annual income of less than 50,000 yuan ($7,545), spent all their savings to support their children's higher education because they saw it as the only way to change their fate.
However, they didn't expect that even with education and knowledge they would be doomed to fall to the bottom of society. The hope and pride of these families have joined the ranks of the jobless soon after graduation.
The earlier notion that college students are the cream of society was shattered, given the fact that almost 80 percent of the graduates consider themselves as lower class, if not at bottom of the society, according to Lian's survey.