Just Saying | Hong Kong’s angry youth: since you can’t shoot them, you might as well listen to their grievances
Yonden Lhatoo argues that as belligerent and entitled as it may seem, the new generation has a voice that matters and it’s in our best interests to at least listen
The Who, one of the greatest rock bands ever, summed up teenage angst with its 1965 anthem, My Generation.
“People try to put us d-down/ Just because we get around/ Things they do look awful c-c-cold/ I hope I die before I get old,” sang lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, embellishing the lyrics with an angry, faux stutter. It resonated with millions of disaffected youth around the world.
Legend has it that the song was written by guitarist Pete Townshend as a one-finger salute to Britain’s queen mother who apparently had his car, an ancient Packard hearse, towed off the street because it offended her delicate sensibilities.
Times have changed and young people don’t listen to music like that any more, having been brought up on a steady diet of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. But for many, that old sense of feeling alienated and disrespected is more acute than ever.
Their growing rebelliousness here in Hong Kong is on full display, and the authorities are at a loss as to how they should be pacified or punished.