[One Version]
Without any maids, our
mothers cooked, cleaned and took care of the whole family. They still had time
to chat with neighbours. Everyone had candy floss, fizzy drinks and
shaved ice with syrups. Diabetes were rare and aspirin and Panadol cured all
illness. We rode adult's bicycle to school, the richer ones had their own
mini-bikes. Ironically, we all had problems with our brakes, and after running
into the bushes a few times, we learned how to solve the
problem. Prefects were a fearful lot ... more fearful than the teachers.
Detention class was like going to prison for a day. We had "public canning" in
schools.
NO ONE ever won the big prices on "TIKAM". It was a scam but it
did not stop us from coming back for more. Motorbikes were rode without
helmets. It was rare to ride a private taxi. Taking a bus was luxury - we either
cycled or walked to everywhere. We drank water from the tap and NOT from
bottles. We spent hours in fields under the sun, playing football or
flying kites, without worrying about UV rays. It did not affect us. We
roamed free, catching spiders and did not worry of Aedes mosquitoes. We kept our
spiders in match boxes and ready for a fight anytime.
With mere 5
pebbles, girls played endless games; and with a tennis ball, boys ran like crazy
for hours. When it rained, we swam the drains & canals to catch "ikan
keli", none of us were dissolved in rain. We shared one bottle of soft
drink with friends, NO ONE actually worried about catching anything. We
ate salty, sweet & oily foods, bread had real butter and sometimes condense
milk. We enjoyed very sweet coffee, tea, and "ice kacang" but we were not obese
because ... WE WERE OUT PLAYING ALL THE TIME!!
We left home in the
morning and played all day till hunger drove us back home. When needed, our
parents knew how to find us. NO ONE actually watched over us and WE ALWAYS WERE
SAFE. WE DID NOT HAVE HANDPHONES BUGGING US. We rode bikes or walked over
to a friend's house and just yelled for them !!! 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!! Our TV was black and white. We fell
out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the
stunts.
We did not have birthdays parties till we were 21, that is when
we started to take noticed of girls. We have not heard of the word
"Bumiputra". We only knew our friends by names. Their parents were Pak Cik and
Mak Cik or Uncle and Aunty. In badminton, we did not change the shuttle
as long as it was in flight. Regardless of how many feathers were left in the
shuttle, our game continued ... but still Wong Peng Soon and Punch Gunalan made
us proud in Badminton. Match-boxes were always "chilly" or "king kong"
brand ... to own a box of matches from a hotel was something
great.
Regardless of whether we could afford one, we always knew Maths
tuition was $10.00 a month. All parties were held in the Town
Hall. We felt pleased to see a policeman and we were always eager to tell
police everything we saw. Morris Minor and Volkswagen Beetle were on our
roads...driven alongside Kingswood, Vauxhall, Opel and Chrysler. Executives of
companies drove Peugeot 504. Japanese cars were considered "inferior". There
were no traffic lights, only roundabouts.
The whole kampung came
together during kenduris and all took turns to "kacau dodol". Chinese, Indians
and Malays were all part of kenduris and all of us spoke Malay. Our
favourite local performer was Rose Chan and the Beatles were the most popular
band. John Wayne's westerns on Sunday Cheap Matinees were 25 cent per
show. Malay weddings had joget sessions in the night, it was the only
time to ask the Malay lady for a dance. Ketupat were NEVER plastic
wrapped.
Football was played barefooted in torn-filled "padangs", rain or
shine ... but still Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Ann and Mokhtar Dahari made us
proud, we actually beat South Korea in football. JPJ testers instill fear
and were highly respected ... Susu lembu was delivered to our house by
our big, friendly and strong "Bayi" on his bicycle. All "jagas" were "Bayi" and
no place got robbed. "Laksa" and "Putu Mayam" man came peddling. "Kacang
Puteh" man walked balancing on his head top, 6 compartments of different type of
murukus.
We played "gasing", made our own kites & had kite fighting
with glass glued threads and made wooden guns & used seeds from plants for
bullets. Kang Kong was free … easily harvested by riverside. "Kembong"
was 30 cents a "kati" and nobody wanted "ikan pari". When the Circus came
to town, everybody went to see it. It was the best LIVE show I ever
saw. Usually we did not have to BUY fruits; they were self planted or
given by neighbours or friends.
The idea of parents bailing us out if we
broke the law was unheard of. Our parents 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 innovations 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!!
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