Asia's youth are often characterized as money-grubbing 'me-firsters.' But increasingly, the region's new rich are looking to help others.
亞洲年輕人往往被歸類為「唯我獨尊」搶錢一族，但這個地區的新富階級愈來愈以助人為樂。

The humanitarian response to the 2004 Asian tsunami was swift and global. But of all the tasks outside relief agencies and foreign soldiers undertook, none was as grim as that assigned to the Indonesian volunteers in Banda Aceh dubbed "the body-snatchers." Their mission: to clear the provincial capital of putrefying corpses, both to preserve the dignity of the tens of thousands of victims and to prevent epidemics among survivors.
2004年南亞海嘯，全球人道援助反應快速。但除了救援機構和外國士兵提供的援助，在所有工作中，沒有比分派給印尼班達亞齊志工的所謂「清屍者」行動更殘忍恐怖的。他們的任務是清除亞齊省首府化膿腐敗的屍體，以保留無數罹難者最後的尊嚴，並防止疫情在存活的人之間蔓延。

For weeks, they inched quadrant by quadrant through the wrecked cityscape, freeing decomposing remains from the rubble for burial in mass graves. "It was very, very surprising," says Hasballah M. Saad, an Indonesian human-rights commissioner. "We never imagined that people would come spontaneously."
他們一連數周在這個被夷為平地、屍橫遍野的災區一步步推進，把腐敗肢解的殘骸從廢墟中清走，葬在萬人塚中。印尼人權專員沙德說，「實在令人意外，我們從來不敢想像，人們會自動自發來幫忙。」

The volunteers' sacrifices were emblematic of an underappreciated force in modern Asia: the power of community. Time and again, the region's globalized youth are cast as money-grubbing me-firsters—which is to say, the 21st century's version of America's post-World War II baby boomers. In Japan, leaders castigate the "parasite singles" who live at home in

suspended adolescence; in Singapore, they fret about the younger generation's propensity to avoid the costs and cares of child-rearing.Everywhere the premise that an Asian "me generation" has emerged is seldom if ever challenged.
志工的犧牲象徵現代亞洲一支未獲應有感謝的隊伍：社區的力量。這個地區的全球化年輕人一再被形塑為「凡是我我我」唯利是圖之輩，換言之，就是21世紀版的美國二戰後的嬰兒潮世代。在日本，各界領袖痛批那些「單身寄生蟲」，他們住在家裡，不願長大。新加坡則對年輕世代傾向於逃避養兒育女所要付出的代價和照護發愁。不管在任何地方，亞洲「我世代」崛起這個前提很少受到挑戰。

However, history shows that industrializing countries evolve—often radically—with each successive generation. So in light of Asia's breakneck modernization, it's little wonder that values are changing fast. But alongside the spread of unbridled capitalism and conspicuous consumption, the region is also experiencing a profusion of new nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), a religious resurgence and rising nationalism.
但歷史顯示，工業國每個世代的演變往往是很急遽的，因此，隨著亞洲快步現代化，價值觀自然也快速改變。伴隨如脫韁野馬的資本主義和擺闊作風，亞洲地區也湧現新的非政府組織，宗教信仰和民族意識抬頭。

There are estimated 2 million NGOs in India, and China now has 2,000 registered "green" groups—up from zero in the early 1990s. In Indonesia, students from the top three universities in the country were surveyed on their career plans in 2004. An astonishing 73 percent said they would prefer to work for an NGO than for the government, and about the same number said civic organizations could do more than government to improve the country. In these Asian countries, the operative pronoun is "we"—the power of groups to enhance the common good.
據估計，印度大約有兩百萬個非政府組織，中國大陸登記有案的「綠色」團體也從1990年初增加到今天的兩千個。2004年，針對印尼最好的三所大學的學生所進行的就業計畫調查顯示，有驚人的73%說，他們寧可為非政府組織工作，也不願為政府工作，還有同樣比例的人說，公益團體在改善國家上比政府更有作為。在這些亞洲國家，行動代號是「我們」──結合團體的力量來提高公益。

"Initially, a lot of their riches go to satisfying selfish demands," says Shalabh Sahai, a 30-year-old resident of Mumbai who received his M.B.A. from the prestigious Indian Institute of Rural Development in Anand. But, he goes on to note, "as the number of these people increases and they get more experience, many begin to say 'I should do something more'." That was his thinking when he joined two classmates to form the nonprofit group iVolunteers back in 2002. The group, which has 9,000 members in four cities, seeks to link young elites with suitable causes. Since its inception the matchmaking service has arranged for thousands of volunteers—mostly IT professionals or bankers aged 25 to 35—to mentor orphans, teach slum kids to trek, visit old folks homes or advise grassroots environmental groups.
孟買30歲的居民沙海從位於阿南德素負盛名的印度鄉村發展研究所拿到企管碩士，他說：「一開始，很多財富用在滿足個人的私慾上。」但他接著指出，「隨著這些人愈來愈多，也更有經驗，很多人開始說：『我應該出更多力。』」早在2002年，他和兩名同學合創非營利團體「我志願」時就是抱持這種想法。這個志工團體在四個城市共有9,000個成員，他們要幫年輕精英找到速配的理想目標。自從創辦以來，這項媒合服務，已經安排數以千計的志工去孤兒院照護，及帶貧民區兒童去旅行，訪問老人之家或提供基層環保團體顧問。這些志工大半是25到35歲的資訊科技專家或銀行家。

But at least the passion shows that Asians have more on their minds than just making money. All are likely to make good on their pledges—making small but invaluable contributions to the societies in which they live.
但至少這種熱情顯示，亞洲人不再只想賺錢，所有人都可能踐履他們的承諾，對他們所生活的社會作出小額但寶貴的捐獻。
（摘譯自新聞周刊）


《詞解》
generation 世代
money-grubbing 搶錢
me-firsters 唯我獨尊
tsunami 海嘯
new rich 新富階級
relief agencies 救援機構
putrefying corpses，decomposing remains 腐屍體
mass graves 萬人塚
parasite singles 單身寄生蟲
conspicuous consumption 擺闊
brainstorm 腦力激盪