Oh dear...I wrote quite a bit of comments on childhood. Unfortunately, I could not post it as I am not a googles account holder.

Well, in summary. I didnt not have the childhood Ceceilia enjoyed. It was very much like the modern ones. No back lane, no alone to the park, no cycling wihthout parents. My parents were never home before dark.

Since young, my brother and I were sent to nanny. At the nanny's place, there were 8 of us. Different age group. The eldest was 3 years old (me-lar who else). The youngest was my brother 1 year old. Together, we slept, we played, we fought...we had so much fun. I was the only rose there, nanny and family treated me like princess. So, during cartoon session, I was always asked by others, to gain permission to watch our favorite cartoon programme.

At home, we had no toys. Brother and I made used of what we had. Tied a little blanket as gown, I was immediately transformed into a princess. Brother would carry a sword as knight, protecting the kingdom. Sometimes we also pretend to be ninjas. Our mother's assesories box, closet and cosmetics were our toys too. I often dressed my brother up! When mother found out that her stuffs were missing, we had no regret of sharing the "rotan" together.

As for my daughter. I wish for a more down to earth childhood. I dont mind her watching Chinese soap opera, as it develops the understanding of our culture and identity. We also ban ourselves from getting her private swing or see-saw. Sharing and caring must be instilled. Let her share with others. Respect, tolerate and cut off selfishness.

Well, I do hope, we( husband and I) are able to keep this principle. The toys in town really cute. TV bad for eyes....kids next door attending tuition class at the age of 3...Friend's boy can play piano well at age of 7.......

Stressful to be a kid nowadays...

My childhood was not very much different than Cecelia's, even though there were about 10-15 years difference. Grew up in a small town, no tuition after school, so plenty of time to hang out with friends. I would grab some spare coins from my father's desk, walk to a grocery store nearby, buy some junk food, lay on the grass behind the house with my best friend, chat, day dream, or go cycling around the area, or even into the town. We would have so much fun pretending that the public bus is a big huge cat chasing after us on the bike!! We take the public bus (20 sen per ride) to town, or even walk a few KM to town most days.

I remembered my 1st walk of about 2km back home from school at the age of 8. Was proud to cross the road on my own. Every schooldays, my dad would drop me off at 6.30am half way to my school and I would walk about 1 km to school when it was still dark. My parents worked, so mum would cook a dish the evening before, put it on the steamer on top of the rice cooker with washed rice in the cooker, put it on a timer in the morning before she leaves for work. When my brothers and I get home from school after 1pm, we will have hot rice and dish for lunch, and the rest of the day is up to us how we want to spend them.

Sometimes I even explore the forest / rubber estate not far away from my home, accessing the place through a small kampung. I would find the stream (clear and cool water) and sit with my legs in the stream and day dream away!!

Normal activities during my childhood besides school work were:
Cycling, walking, climbing trees and hills, visit friends, laofing around town by foot, basketball, volleyball, badminton, swimming, church activities, playing with our pets.

We had more then 10 varieties of fruit trees in our yard, so fresh and home grown fruits were plenty. Eating out was a treat and we never complain about food cooked and put on the table for us. We ate everything mum cooked... (except for green vege and pork liver at one point, ha ha!) We were all tanned and skinny as well!

We helped with home chores (no live in maids those days) and did our homework, studied on our own. I even started working part time at the age of 16 and never took any pocket money from parents since then.

Occasional trips to the KL city were a real treat with the extras of MacDonald's sundae and cheese burger because there were no fast food joint in our town. My parents refused to let me go on school trips anywhere, specially to the KL city because there were always rumors about kids getting snatched in the city.

If I have a choice, I would love my kid to grow up in a Kampung environment like I did. Air were fresher, people were friendlier and with a close knitted community, we were always under watchful eyes for our own good.

We cannot escape evolution and the advancement of time and technology with newer, better equipped findings to better ones life, but we can educate our kids the value of things, life and to appreciate and safe keep our beautiful world of nature before it is too late.

The advancement in the new generations has led to more self centered society with emphasis on self and achievements instead of moral values specially in the area of basic courtesy, sharing and appreciation of what we have.

With so much peer pressure among children nowadays, it's a challenge to educate our kids the value of life. Education starts from home. It is up to us to make a difference in our children's lives so that they will share the same values we had or have from our upbringings.

Before we do, we should examine ourselves, making sure that who we are today is what we want our children to become. For our young ones will learn from us, observe and imitate our behaviors until they are old enough to start living their own lives. By then we would have molded them into what they will be through our lives.

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