THOSE WHO WERE BORN IN THE 40's, 50's and 60's / early
'70s............
First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked /cleaned
while taking care of us at the same time.
They took aspirin, candies 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. The richer in car 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 go to 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 catch guppy in drains / canals and when it rain we swim there.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually worry 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 ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights
came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
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 problems.
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, multiple channels
on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal
computers and no internet. But WE STILL 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 were never given birthday parties till we were 21,
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard
of. They actually sided with the law! In fact, we never came back and
told we were caned at school lest we get a second dose at home.
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 AYAH is one of them!
