{"id":20603,"date":"2022-03-15T14:45:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T06:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=20603"},"modified":"2024-04-17T11:42:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T03:42:50","slug":"stop-working-hard-lie-flat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2022\/03\/stop-working-hard-lie-flat\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Working Hard, ‘Lie Flat’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Young people “lie flat” to fight against rat race.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iris Jiang<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Yiu*, a year two student studying childhood education at the Education University of Hong Kong, has decided to \u201clie flat\u201d due to exhaustion from hard work and competition with classmates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy grades worsened no matter how hard I tried, so I decided to adopt a \u2018lying flat\u2019 lifestyle,\u201d the higher diploma student says, adding that she finds the grading system not transparent and it is not worth the effort to get better grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLying flat\u201d is a lifestyle which promotes doing the minimum for a living. Yiu takes it as a fightback against society\u2019s pressure to perform well. She is content with her current situation and refuses to overwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still want to learn. But I will not burn the midnight oil for schoolwork anymore,\u201d the student says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government just does not understand us. There is no use in condemning us or telling us not to \u2018lie flat\u2019 unless they actually do something to make us feel hopeful,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong Government\u2019s Response <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Education Bureau released an article on its official website on November 28, 2021 stating the recent emergence of \u201clying flatism\u201d is worrying. It also stated that this kind of negative mentality could easily make people decadent and would hinder the progress of society in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a written reply to Varsity, a bureau spokesperson says: \u201cOne of the major emphases in the curriculum framework is adding “diligence” to the existing list of values and attitudes.\u201d These values also include perseverance, national identity and law-abidingness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiligence does not mean overworking, but a time-honoured positive value which can motivate students to work hard since childhood,\u201d the reply states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hong Kong’s Education Bureau added “diligence” into values education in November 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From Appearing to Disappearing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The buzzword \u201clying flat\u201d sprang up when a 31-year-old jobless man Luo Huazhong released his article \u201c\u2018Lying Flat\u2019 is Justice\u201d on Baidu Tieba, an online platform that gathers people with common interests by searching keywords, in April 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luo shared how he lived in his comfort zone while being unemployed for two years. \u201cIt doesn’t feel wrong\u2026\u2019Lying flat\u2019 is my wiseman philosophy,\u201d he wrote in the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of \u201clying flat\u201d promotes: \u201cDon\u2019t buy property and a car. Don\u2019t get married. Don\u2019t have children. Don\u2019t consume.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the \u201clying flat\u201d lifestyle, Nanfang Daily<\/em>, a Chinese state media, published an article entitled \u201cLying Flat is Shameful, There is Nothing to Feel Righteous About\u201d on May 20, 2021. The article accused negative emotions spread by \u201clying flat\u201d practitioners while encouraging the public to be confident about their future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is necessary to prevent the stagnation of social classes\u2026and form an environment for improvement in which everyone participates, avoiding involution and \u2018lying flat\u2019,\u201d wrote the Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 15, 2021 in Qiushi<\/em>, the leading official journal on political theory of the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the state media has made their position clear, Luo\u2019s article was removed by censors, \u201clying flat\u201d discussion groups in Chinese social media were shut down and the search function for the term has been disabled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding Comfort Zone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the Chinese government tried to suppress discussions, Taiwanese businessman Mark Zheng* set up a Facebook group entitled \u201cLying Flatism” on June 20, 2021. The group promotes \u201clying flat\u201d lifestyles with over 100 members, mainly from Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cover of Mark Zheng\u2019s Facebook group \u201cLying Flatism\u201d.
(Photo courtesy of Mark Zheng)
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to provide a safe and comfortable platform for people to express their opinion,\u201d Zheng says. He has observed that many have been complaining about pressure from work. He thinks that \u201clying flat\u201d is a kind of spiritual resistance to rat races and the exploitation from employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zheng only works one hour a day on average in an international trade company, with a monthly salary around 40,000 Taiwan dollars (US$1410). He brands himself as a \u201c\u2018lying flat\u2019 practitioner\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am content with my life and I do not think that I need to work harder,\u201d the 36-year-old businessman says, adding that everyone can choose whatever lifestyle he or she wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making it Discussible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To show support for the \u201c\u2018lying flat\u2019 lifestyle\u201d, Zhang Jiumin*, a Chinese independent songwriter, released a song \u201cLying Flat Is Kingly Way\u201d on Weibo and YouTube. The song lists some benefits of \u201clying flat\u201d such as preventing burning out and maintaining people\u2019s physical and mental health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Video cover of Zhang Jiumin\u2019s song \u201cLying Flat Is Kingly Way\u201d.
(Photo courtesy of Zhang Jiu-min)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Despite being removed from Weibo, a popular social media platform in China, he keeps posting the song by not using sensitive words such as \u201clying flat\u201d in his description to avoid censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want more people to listen to my song. It is written from the bottom of my heart. Although \u2018lying flat\u2019 is not a mainstream value, it should still be discussed,\u201d Zhang says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lau Siu-lun, a lecturer of Sociology in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, points out that \u201clying flatism\u201d is not a new idea, citing the \u201cBeat Generation\u201d from the United States in the 1950s and the \u201cLow-Desire Society\u201d concept from Japan in the 1990s as examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLiving costs increase with economic development, while pay rise fails to catch up. The Chinese working class in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shengzhen find it less rewarding to live and work in these competitive places,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lau points out that people feel stressed when they work for long hours but still cannot afford housing property, while the price of daily commodities keeps rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think some of them will just give up their regular jobs in first-tier cities and return to their hometown or other second or third-tier cities to enjoy a more relaxing lifestyle,\u201d Lau says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Names changed at interviewees\u2019 request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Leung Pak-hei
Sub-edited by Kajal Aidasani<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young people “lie flat” to fight against rat race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2175,8],"tags":[1921,1922,245],"class_list":["post-20603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-march-2022","category-our-community","tag-lieflat","tag-ratrace","tag-china"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20603"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20727,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20603\/revisions\/20727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}