Growing up these days is alot different than the years when I was growing up. Life for the young today is filled with meeting friends for coffee at Starbucks, fancy hand phones that become obsolete in a couple of months, dyeing their hair a different color to suit their current mood, body art that makes parents wince, clubbing at nightspots and shopping at trendy outlets - all courtesy of mum and dad, of course!
Kids at a very young age (some as early as seven years old) have romantic interests in school, and computers have taken over their lives. They go everywhere with MP3s plugged into their ears and parental conversations are rare. The doors to their rooms are always locked and some parents have to resort to calling them on their mobile phones (even in the same house) just to ask them to join the family for dinner! College-going kids drive their own cars - again, courtesy of mum and dad!
My baby-boomer friends and I often reminisced about our growing-up years when life was a whole lot harder but we did not mind. As kids, we did not have computer games and a television set would be a luxury. We played outdoors mostly and were creative enough to make do with whatever we could lay our hands on to entertain ourselves. We played games like hopscotch, rounders, konda kondi, congkak, and galah panjang. I was brought up as a boy because my mother had so wanted a son - so I played with the boys rather than the girls. We climbed trees, used catapult to shoot at poor helpless birds and trapped dragon flies using the sticky sap from jack fruits. Since I was dressed as a boy, none of the boys I played with knew that I wasn't one of them and when it was time to answer nature's call, I would run back home because I could not do it standing up!
My teenage years were spent in Kuala Lumpur. Teen aged girls were not allowed to go out at night and the highlight of our social lives were "tea dances" held at places like Jackie's Bowl (located where the AIA Building is today along Jalan Ampang), while our more well-heeled and "cool" counterparts would boogie the night away in discos such as Time Tunnel, also along Jalan Ampang. Dating was often done during the day at places like Green Grove and Rendezvous in downtown Kuala Lumpur.
We did not have the luxury of generous allowances and no, our favorite pastime was not shopping for clothes - like it is today. I remember that I sewed my own clothes - and the trend then were minis, maxis and a short, billowy, sleeveless dress, dubbed the "tent". I was actually quite good at sewing the "tent" - all you need is to cut the material on the bias for the billowy effect and the dress has a simple round neckline and no sleeves with zippers at the back. They have, of course, to go with those humongous platform shoes - and we thought we looked so cool!
During my secondary school years, I was a Prefect in a Convent school and each year, after the exams were over, we held parties attended by all prefects and we would invite our counterparts from selected male schools.
Adrenaline Junkie as Prefect
Boogie-ing the night (day?) away!
We looked forward to these parties, although we had to dance under the watchful eyes of the nuns, who, of course, had to be there - from start to end! Whilst today's nightlife only starts at around 10.00 p.m., our parties typically started at 6.00 p.m. and ended by 10.00 p.m. but they would be the highlight of the school year.
Line dancing?
A rather austere menu! Adrenaline Junkie is on far right
I remember that an allowance of 50 sen a day then was "generous" as a bowl of noodles and a glass of syrup cost 10 sen each. Compare that to today when a plate of nasi lemak costs RM3.00 and it's no wonder that kids need RM10.00 per day for their food alone - and that does not include a meal at McDonald's on their way home!
Given our way of life then, are we more prepared to ride out rough times than our pampered children?
No comments:
Post a Comment