The article below was written by Patrick Teoh in his blog "Niamah!!". First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked /cleaned while taking care of us at the same time. They took aspirin, candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/ motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat. We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle. We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us. We went to the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes. With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be a endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best) we boys would run like crazy for hours. We caught guppies in drains / canals and when it rained, we swam there. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worried about being unhygienic. We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee/ tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight because....... WE WERE OFTEN OUT PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. WE DID NOT HAVE HANDPHONE TO BUG US. And we were O.K. AND WE WERE SAFE. We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem . We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts. We never had birthdays parties till we were 21 We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them! We don't know what is "Bumiputra"...... The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Nobody knew about child psychology! Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 40 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned ......!! HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
Nice post Loh! Young folks get annoyed at how sentimental those over 40 get for the days of yesteryear. But there is a lot of truth in what you say. When I look back at what I did (out of momma's sight) I am ashamed at how tight I keep the reins on my own kids. Thanks for the food for thought!
so true in the way that we are raising our kids to be wimps today. everything is cared for for them, and everything is so protective. they will have a hard time thinking for themselves and adjusting to the harsh real world.
Nice! woowee! what a ride!!! I was filled with the giggles I had long forgotten. Tks for the memories. also that reminds me that I still have the yonex 8100 blacken stashed somewhere
My Most Memorable Moments with my Papa Papa hardly spoke to my elder brother and me when we were teenagers. He was Chinese educated up to maybe secondary 3 and we were in the English stream schools. So our common language was Cantonese. Mother was always busy with the housework to really care for us. So during the day, our friends and I were always free to do anything after school. Sometimes we ran into difficulties, but always kept our mouths shut so as not to bother Mama. But every other weekend in the evening, Papa would bring both of us to the then Great World Amusement Park by bus. You see, he moonlighted at the Cantonese wayang theatre as a musician. In the day he worked as a mechanic with the British Army. He specialized in the trumpet but was as versatile in the double bass (he was a six-footer) and many other instruments which he picked up during his student days. We would watch the actors performing on stage and learn some of the famous Chinese stories and songs. There would usually be a big attendance when actors from Hong Kong were invited to perform. Papa would encourage us to accompany the musicians and he would give a guitar to my 'big' brother and the small ukulele to me to strum along. That was how we managed to pass the long hours easily. And we always looked forward to the supper after the show. On our way home by bus again, we would alight at Bukit Pasoh and would always patronize the "twin sisters" noodle stall. How delicious!
i guess i grew up "lucky". we live in a university housing which is situated not in the city but close to the countryside. we get off school by noon during primary school days and by 4pm during secondary school, we were pretty much free to roam around the place with friend and were pretty well protected by the surroundings. once in while we will venture off to the shopping center around a mile away, either by foot or by bike. within our housing area there are plenty of open grounds to bike, football, and whatever we can think of. but the somewhat protective environment also means we hardly have to fend for ourselves. i only really learned about the real world after going to boarding school abroad. i cannot imagine these days more well off kids are always driven around, parents already plan all activities for them after school and in the weekend. and everything are completely protective. will they survive in the real world?
Title is probably a bit misleading as I grew up in the 80s and experienced everything listed there. On another note, while I appreciate the humor wholeheartedly it also points out the glaring problem of generation gap trying to understand one another - this is one example of people expecting things to never change or remain the same as they were down the times. Many things now are better than it was in the past but never without sacrificing anything to achieve it, others are worst off than it used to be. Still, nice article.
I don't think Loh was saying things in general should never change. In fact, one could argue that Loh's point is that to be prepared for an ever-changing world you need the traits of resilience and self-reliance. These traits, Loh's argument might go, are better learned by giving children some free rein. Some children grow up with too many boundaries and too much structure. Raising children has become a deliberate enterprise of safety, privilege and opportunity. A few parents are so keen on "plotting the right course" that they forget that character building is more important than résumé building. There is a chance that a rigidly raised kid will grow up to be the type of adult who is not flexible nor resilient enough to cope with the stress and instability of change that is inevitable in life. But all this sounds rather dramatic. The up and coming generation always manages to impress the older generation by not being the push-overs they were predicted to become. The sky isn't falling ... the kids are (mostly) alright.
