October 08, 2008

They survived with mothers who have no maids. Their moms cooked and cleaned while taking care of them at the same time. They took aspirin, fizzy drinks, candy floss, shaved ice with syrup and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever. There were no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets at that time. And when they rode their bicycle, they had no helmets.

As children, they would ride with their parents on motorcycle/bicycles. Richer ones will be travelling in cars with no air bags. Riding in the back of a taxi was a special treat. They drank from taps and not bottles. They can spend hours under bright sunlight flying kites, never having to worry about UV rays, which never seem to affect them anyway. they went into jungles to catch spiders without worries about Aedes mosquitoes. 5 pebbles would be an endless game for them and a tennis ball alone will generate hours of fun for the young imaginative minds. They caught guppies in drains and canals and when it rains they swam there.

They share a bottle of soft drink with 4 friends and nobody worried about being unhygenic. They ate salty food, sweet food, very oily food, candies, bread with real butter and drank very sweet soft drinks, ice kachang but they were not overweight because they were always outside playing. They would leave home in the morning and play all day till the streetlights came on. Nobody was able to reach them all day and they were fine on their own. They would spends hours repairing their scooters/bicycles out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to realise that they forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, they learned to solve the problem.

There were no such things as Playstation, Nintendo DS, PSP, internet, PC, Xbox360, cable TV or handphones back them. Instead, they had real friends and they went out to find them. They fell down from trees, got cut, broke bones/teeth and they still continued their stunts. They never had birthday parties till they were 21. They rode bikes or just walked to theirr friend's house and just yelled for them. The idea of parents bailing them out when they broke the law was unheard of. Parents actually sided with the law back then.

This were how the children in the past led their lives.

Look at how our society has changed today. Are we getting too pampered already?
Parents rush to defend their children against the slightest form of accusation. They pamper their little emperors and empresses so that they can have a "good life". Is that really the case? Or are such treatments actually detrimental to the young ones?

Hardships are necessary ingredients for a successful life. I look forward to our next generation of leaders.

No comments: