TO ALL THE THOSE WHO WERE BORN IN THE 40's / 50's 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.
Nasib Mak mungkin berbeza dari saya. Nenek Saadiah tinggal bersama kami. Dari segi pertolongan fizikal, memang Nenek Saadiah banyak membantu menjaga kami dan memasal. Tugas Mak ringan sikit. Saya tiada pembantu untuk menguruskan rumahtangga dan anak. Semuanya kami suami isteri yang buat. Tapi hidup kami bebas… Mungkin Mak (pada pendapat saya) terkongkong dari segi emosi. Maklumlah, serumah dengan ibu mertua…. Tapi saya yakin Mak redha atas segalanya. Mak puas kerana dapat menjaga Nenek Saadiah sehingga nafasnya yang terakhir. - They took aspirin, candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrup and diabetes was 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.
Selepas Abah berhenti berkerja lombong di Air Hitam Tin Puchong, kami kembali ke Kuala Selangor. Masih jelas diingatan, kalau hendak ke klinik kerajaan, kena bawa botol ubat sendiri, bukannya seperti sekarang; botol ubat sudah tersedia. - As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/ motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
- Riding in the back of a pirate taxi was a special treat.
- We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.
Hehehhe…..teringat masa Darjah 2, bulan Ramadhan. Bila pergi sekolah Agama petang, tekak kering betul. Apa lagi, bila sampai masa Solat Asar, bila ambil Wudhu, gogok sekali air paid yang sungguh sejuk dan mmmmm……. Tapi bila balik rumah, beritahu Mak (dengan muka sedih)….puasa! - We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about UV rays which never seem to affect us.
- We go into the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.
- With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be an endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best) we boys would run like crazy for hours.
Apa lagi, main batu seremban lah….. sampai lupa makan. Masa zaman sekolah menengah, kat asrama (ATPN) kami tak main batu, tapi beg kain comel yg diisi dengan pasir atau buah saga (masa tu dah rasa moden dah). Saiznya besar sikit dari batu seremban biasa, dan kurang bising… Kalau dah boring main batu seremban, kitaorang main tudung botol pulak. Macam-macam stail jari melentik….hehehe…lucu betul. Dengan selipar jepun pun kitaorang boleh cipta permainan BALING SELIPAR. - We caught guppies in drains / canals and when it rained we swam there.
- We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worried about being unhygienic.
- We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft drinks, sweet coffee/ tea, ais-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.
Kalau nak keluar main, kena tengok mood Mak, kalau dia okay, boleh lah keluar rumah lenggang kangkung depan dia. Kalau Mak macam angin jer, sorok-sorok lah sikit. - 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 scrap 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 problem.
- We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE 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.
Jatuh pokok? Memang pernah. Pasal panjat pokok jambu tepi rumah. Betul-betul rasa macam Tarzan..(begitulah agaknya perasaan Tarzan? entahler). Setakat luka, lebam dan terseliuh tu, biasa lah…. - We never had birthday parties till we were 21
Tapi, Mak pernah buatkan satu birthday (10 tahun). Macam tak percaya bila balik dari sekolah, Mak dah masak dan hidang makanan party atas meja. Mak cakap pergi ajak kawan-kawan datang pukul 3 ni…. Itulah yang pertama dan terakhir. Lepas tu, celebrate sendiri. - We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!
Bukan setakat kawan panggil dari jarak jauh. Mak pun pernah panggil sampai satu kampong dengar…….. Kalau mak panggil nama manja, masih okay lagi. Tapi, kalau mak panggil NAMA PENUH…alamatnya rotan menunggu…..eeeee. - The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Tak pernah cerita kat Mak atau Abah kalau kena marah dengan cikgu atau gurubesar. Semua telan sendiri. Takut kalau bagitau, Mak atau Abah ‘tambah’ lagi...OH TIDAK! - 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.
