A Gen Z joined the team.
Week one.
During onboarding, the manager said,
“We sometimes stay late during peak periods.”
Gen Z nodded.
Then asked,
“Is that paid… or just expected?”
The room went quiet.
- No attitude.
- No rebellion.
- Just a question.
Later that day, HR mentioned “growth opportunities.”
Gen Z replied,
“Does growth include raises, or just more responsibility?”
Again, silence.
- No laziness.
- No entitlement.
- Just clarity.
That’s when the team realized something.
When people say
“Gen Z is lazy,”
what they really mean is:
Gen Z watched old generation
- skip meals,
- miss birthdays,
- work weekends,
- and burn out
only to be told
“budgets are tight”
and “be grateful you have a job.”
So Gen Z chose differently.
- They don’t romanticize overwork.
- They don’t confuse suffering with ambition.
- They don’t trade health for praise.
They still work hard.
They just refuse to work for nothing.
It’s not laziness.
It’s pattern recognition.
And honestly,
after everything old generation went through…
Can you really blame them?
“Jangan biasakan guna pensel dekat restoran untuk tulis menu atau bagi anak conteng‑conteng, kecuali sudah mendapat izin.”
Itulah pesanan Farah Lee kepada ibu bapa di luar sana dalam satu hantaran di Facebook baru-baru ini.
Katanya, walaupun sekecil‑kecil dakwat, sesuatu yang bukan hak kita tetap haram digunakan, apatah lagi jika melibatkan harta orang lain.
Farah menegaskan, ibu bapa perlu menjadi contoh kepada anak-anak agar tidak sesekali terbiasa mengambil barang yang bukan milik sendiri.
“Jangan suka ucap ‘apa la sangat’ bila hal kecil macam ini. Perkara yang bukan hak kita tetap haram, dan anak-anak akan meniru apa yang kita ajar,” katanya.
Ini membawa netizen kepada pengalaman almarhum Tok Guru Nik Aziz menjadi contoh teladan.
Pengguna Facebook, Apek Cina turut berkongsi pengalaman rakan beliau yang pernah bertemu almarhum Tok Guru Nik Aziz di Pejabat Menteri Besar Kelantan sekitar 10 tahun lalu.
Semasa menandatangani dokumen peribadi, beliau hanya menggunakan pen milik sendiri, walaupun terdapat pen marker milik kerajaan yang lebih lancar.
Tok Guru menjelaskan bahawa pen milik kerajaan hanya untuk urusan rasmi, manakala urusan peribadi perlu menggunakan barangan milik sendiri.
“Pen 70 sen tu milik beliau, penanda pen tu milik kerajaan. Untuk urusan peribadi, beliau tidak guna harta kerajaan,” katanya.
Sumber: Farah Lee & reef Omar (gambar hiasan pensel)