Technology’s New Slave1

By Koh Jia Jun

W e all admit that modern technology has taken over2. take over: 接管，占据。our lives, for good of course. Us, being young people, rejoice at the breakneck speed technology can move at.3. rejoice: 高兴，欢喜；at the breakneck speed: 极快地，（尤指）以危险的高速。But there are a group of people who cannot keep up— my parents.

Well, not just my parents. It is the group of people who are caught up between traditional and modern society, sort of like the middle child in technological advancement—not exactly old and resist change, but are trying very hard to become modernized, ending up being stuck in the middle.4. 这群人夹在传统社会和现代社会之间，就像科技进步的中间儿，他们并非古板和抗拒变化，而是非常努力地想要跟上现代化的步伐，结果却被困在中间进退两难。middle child: 中间儿或三个孩子中的第二个孩子。由于对自己的角色没有老大和幼子这样清楚的定位，会感到被冷落或者变得孤僻。此处用来形容被夹在传统和现代社会之间的人们的迷茫和无助。They range in the age of 40 to 60 (it’s a rough estimate5. rough estimate: 粗略统计。) and holds the latest iPhone or Samsung phone, which were probably the only two brands they know. They are still wandering in the Candy Crush phase and the occasional sister-games produced by King.com.6. wander: 徘徊，游荡；Candy Crush: 糖果传奇，一款消除类小游戏；phase: 阶段；sister game: 姊妹游戏，类似的游戏。And more often than I like to admit, they buy an iPad just because—

在科技迅猛发展的今天，爸妈常常抱怨我们只知道摆弄手机，他们想要跟上时代前进的步伐，却不得法门，只能以小游戏为乐。可是，局势在不知不觉中反转了。爸妈竟也会沉迷小游戏，甚至会忽视自己最珍爱的孩子。这一切是怎么发生的？我们又该怎样面对？

1. They can afford to, and

2. To play the same games on a larger screen

nothing else.

They are almost like the teenagers five years ago,always on their phone with a mindless game or navigating through Facebook.7. mindless: 无需动脑的；navigate: 航行于。Maybe it is just my country, I’m not sure, but it’s prevalent8. prevalent: 流行的，普遍的，广传的。. And I saw something today that made me extremely sad.

It was a heartbreaking9. heartbreaking: 令人心碎的。scene. On the train (or tube10. tube:（伦敦）地铁。,subway, metro, whatever you call it), a mother was focused on playing a Candy Crush-like game with her daughter sitting beside her. The little girl, about five years old, was talking to her mother, about her day,chanting the next stop’s name cheerily, commenting on her mother’s long nails—obviously desperate attempts to get her mother’s attention.11. 那个小女孩，大约五岁，一直在和她的妈妈说话，讲她这一天的生活，欢快地报出下一站的站名，评论她妈妈的长指甲，很明显极力想得到妈妈的关注。chant:反复地唱（或说）。

The mother? All she did was nod and subconsciously mumble the occasional “Mm hm” and with her eyes glued to the screen, brows creased in intense concentration on how to use her remaining swipes to clear the level.12. ……她眉头紧锁，全神贯注于如何用剩余的步数通关游戏。subconsciously: 潜意识地；mumble: 咕哝，含糊地说；glue to: 紧盯住；crease:（使）起折痕，（使）起皱；swipe: 滑动（屏幕）。I watched the girl gave a final attempt to at least get her mom to look at her, and to no avail, then she sighed and resigned defeat, falling silent.13. 我看着小女孩最后一次尝试至少让妈妈看自己一眼，却无济于事，于是她叹了口气，放弃并沉默了。attempt: 尝试，努力；to no avail: 无效，徒劳；sigh: 叹息；resign: 听任，顺从；defeat: 挫败，失败。

It broke my heart, and got me wondering—what kind of game can make you forget you have the most beautiful thing in the world, a being you created, the person you love with all your heart? What it means when you can’t and won’t even look into her eyes and even bother to listen to her.

You might have many balls to juggle as an adult; but to her,you are likely her only ball.14. 作为成年人，你可能需要处理很多事情，可是对她来说，你却是她生活的唯一。have many balls to juggle: 有许多事情要忙。

This is not just an isolated example, I’ve seen too many during my public commute15. commute: 通勤，乘车上下班。to know that this is a very depressing and prevalent sight. I might not be a parent myself, and probably still have a long way before becoming one, but I know what I saw wasn’t right.

The scene was so familiar years ago when it happened, when parents lament how their children were so affixed to their mobile devices that they gave up giving any shit about them.16. lament: 哀悼，悲叹；affix to:粘上，固定于，此处指痴迷于……；give a shit: 〈口〉在乎。Look how the tables have turned when the slavery now gets passed to them.I’m uncertain whether to laugh or to cry.

But all I can do now is hope that this storm passes.