Reflections

When I look at my grandchildren I cannot help but feel they are of a different breed from us.When we were young , we learned to be independent at an early age .There were six of us in our family, brothers and sisters and our parents were struggling to bring us up.We had to fend for ourselves and no one needs to tell us when to shower , get ready for school or do our homework.If we did not do our homework the teachers would deal with us.
We were rough and tough,swimming in the river ( and getting caned for it ) , drinking water from the tap and just having three meals a day ( in the house ).We never knew what was Mac D or KFC or even what coca cola tasted like.But we grew up just like any kid our age at that time and we were street wise and knew how to be independent.Our parents need not worry about us getting lost or not making our way to school and coming home after that.We never saw doctors when we were not well .The good thing about being sick was that you had the luxury of having an apple or two as it was believed that eating apples would make you get well faster.
We had no TV or hand phones or even toys.Our toys were made from what we got from the surroundings and we had fun with them.There were no cinemas and it was only in the 50s that we were able to get our first taste of watching movies in the cinema.Yet , without all these we grew up to be knowledgeable, smart and most important of all independent knowing how to take care of our things.We only had two sets of clothes for school and there was no such thing as going anywhere during holidays.To us holidays were day off, sleep late and just loaf around.We never thought of sleeping in nice beds with air con and fans.To us our bed was the camp bed which was a piece of canvas cloth strung over a couple of wooden support.It did not take up much space and could be easily stored.
Yes life was simple those day .Our needs were basic ,the staple food was rice and those days two plates of rice going down with curry or sambal belachan was a great meal .I remember how after school we would come home and wait for the chicken to lay eggs and the moment this was done we would take the egg and break it over a plate of hot rice and then mix it up with lard and soya sauce and that would make a great meal , more so if you chew on a piece of green chillies.
Our lives in the early days were basic and we grew up mainly on our own and that perhaps is why we older generation are tougher more resilient than the young people of today .