Those Days... These Days...

I bumped into an ex-classmate recently. It must have been more than 30 years ago since I last saw him. Being the forgetful person that I am, it's quite surprising that I could still remember him even though it's been over 150lbs ago since we were both in primary school. I don't know how he grew to be so fat, considering that he used to be a frail skinny boy before.

We decided to have a drink at a nearby kopi tiam where we ended up reminiscing about the good old days. Back then the kids spent their time so differently from how the modern-day kids are spending their time today. We played football in the muddy field during the rainy seasons; we played rubber seeds and marbles. There were so many outdoor activities we indulged in. I can still remember those days when I used to go fishing in a nearby swamp with my brother, Dennis, and my cousin, Andrew. Plenty of karok and sepat. Dennis had a flair with the bamboo rod, and he used to boast his ability with the fly-fishing thing. Well except for that time when his hook caught Andrew's upper lip. Understandably, Andrew did not find that very amusing. I can't remember how that freak accident happened. I must ask Dennis one of these days.

We went to school with only 50 sen each day for pocket money. And somehow it was possible to save enough to catch a movie every now and then at the Lido cinema.

These days, the kids are no longer into fishing. No, they have a complete collection of cartoon series on DVDs. When they are bored with those, they have the TV games on the Playstation. At the restaurants, while waiting for the food to be served, kids are seen playing with portable game consoles, I believe the PS4 they're called.

JJ's classmate, Cloey, has a cellphone since she was in primary one. She was already sending text messages to my JJ via Mia's phone since that young. JJ's peers are learning to play the piano and violin.

Amazing how much things have changed within just one generation. And I somehow feel that things are changing even faster these days. It makes me wonder what kids will be like in the next generation. Maybe by then things like fishing at the lake can only be learned from books and computers; playing in the rain while riding the buffalo in the paddy fields can only happen in their dreams.

Things were so different in those good old days. That talk with my old friend brought back some memories. How old I suddenly felt that day at the kopi tiam. Oh the good old days...