Spirit Fodder
Saturday, January 17, 2004
20-years Ago...
Funny how you always think you are young until something happens to remind you otherwise. The following brought back so many memories, I feel a little ancient now. Many thanks to Kimi for sharing it.
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50 things for Singaporean teenagers. Sit, enjoy and think back about the past...Were you one of these?
1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silver hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles and Smurfs too.
2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side10 times too.
3. You know what's Bin(1) Fen(1) Ba (1) San(1) is all about.
4. You know what SBC stands for.
5. You were there when the first chinese serial, the Awakening was shown on TV.
6. Internet? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more ago.
7. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.
8. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEEP! when pressed.There are colourfu! l ticket s for TIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole on the ticket.
9. Your favourite actor and actress is Huang Wenyong and Xiangyun. Next is Lee Nanxing and Zoe Tay and the Aiyoyo woman.
10. You've probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who's Vinny the
little vampire and Acai the constable.
11. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.
12. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
13. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls.
14. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.
15. You longed to buy tibits called Kaka (20 cents per pack) and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.
16. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.
17. All that you know about Cantonese is from the Hong Kong serials you watched on TV2.
18. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers.
19. Civics and Moral Education was "Hao3 Gong1 Min2".
20. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.
21. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE MOST EXTREME WAS 'super white'...you just couldn't bring yourself to say the hokkien relative.
22. Catching was the IN thing and twist the magic word.
23. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was
smooth and yellow.
24. CDIS was your best friend.
25. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.
26. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.
27. Boys loved to play soccer with small tennis balls in the basketball court or play something that uses tennis ball to hit other players known as "HUM TAM BOLA" during recess /after school.
28. Hopskotch, five stones,chateh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too...
29. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives.
30. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally.
31. You did stupid exercises like seal crawl and frog jumps.
32. Every children's day and! nationa l day you either get pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with Happy National Day 1994'.
33. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.
34. Chinese teachers were always old, boring and damn fierce looking.
35. Your form teacher taught you maths, science and english.
36. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.
37. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.
38. Famous Chinese singers were only Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai
39. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.
40. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.
41. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.
42. During class gatherings, parents always tag along in case someone gets lost at Orchard Road.
43. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.
44. Handkerchiefs were a must for both genders.
45. Collecting notebooks and all kinds of stationery was a popular thing.
46. Autograph books were loaded with "Best Wishes", "Forget Me Not", and small poems like "Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget".
47. Class monitors and prefects loved to say "You talk somemore, I write your name ah!"
48. There were at least 40 people in one class.
49. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.
50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.
Spread this heart warming message around ... but don't if you feel untouched.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Flying
Once upon a time there was a little boy who was raised in an orphanage. The little boy always wished he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly. There were birds at the zoo that were much bigger than he, and they could fly.
"Why can't I?" he thought.
"Is there something wrong with me?" he wondered.
There was another little boy who was crippled. He always wished he could walk and run like other little boys and girls.
"Why can't I be like them?" he thought.
One day, the little orphan boy who wanted to fly like a bird, ran away from the orphanage. He came upon a park where he saw the little boy who could not walk or run playing in the sandbox. He ran over and asked the little boy if he ever wanted to fly like a bird.
"No," said the little boy who could not walk or run, "but I've wondered what it would be like to walk and run like other boys and girls."
"That is very sad." said the little boy who wanted to fly. "Do you think we could be friends?" he said to the little boy in the sandbox.
"Sure," replied the little boy.
The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles and really funny sounds with their mouths, sounds which made them laugh real hard.
Then the father of the little boy who could not walk or run came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The little boy who always wanted to fly ran over to the boy's father and whispered something into his ear.
"That would be okay," said the man.
The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend and said, "You are my only friend and I wish there was something that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can't. However, there is something else that I can do for you."
The little orphan boy turned around and told his new friend to slide up onto his back. He then began to run across the grass.
Faster and faster he ran, carrying the little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he ran across the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the wind just whistled across the two little boys' faces.
The little boy's father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son flapping his arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his voice, "I'M FLYING, DADDY. I'M FLYING!"
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Thanks to Jas K for the above. He wrote it as a testimonial in Friendster for me. But it was too long! Nevertheless, a heart-warming story that should be shared with everyone.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Don't grow old filled with regrets for things not done, for words not said, and for love not shown. Life is too short for that. Live it, and do what makes you happy.
~ author unknown
