My childhood days…

As I was reading another fellow blogger’s entry about the stress that her son, a primary school student has to go through. I looked back at my primary school days and giggled silently to myself.

I was from a kampong school and nobody really took tests or exams seriously. From Primary 1 to 3, it was 80% play and 20% school work. In those days, there was even primary 7 and 8! But of course, most students did get down to serious business from P5 onwards due to the all-time-big-hurdle, the PSLE at P6.

Below is a list that I found on the net, and it brought back fond memories of my childhood. Maybe you’ll also find these items familiar if you were a primary school kid in the 1980s.

1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silverhawk, Ultraman, Super Friends, Woody WoodPecker, Tom & Jerry, Care Bears, My Little Pony, Smurfs and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, maybe Ninja turtles too.

p/s: My fav cartoon was Smurfs. I think I once drove my mum crazy by singing “la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” non-stop for 72 hours.

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school during recess time. You would squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a colored mug. The teachers said you must brush each side ten times.

p/s: We would all gurgle and spit at the same time. There was even a competiion among ourselves that who could spit the furthest.

3. You know in school, you could subscribe to get the milk which would come before you go back home. Some days you would get chocolate milk, other days strawberry. The old Magnolia fresh milk came in a triangular packet.

p/s: I was a really skinny kid and I had free milk until primary 4! I hated the Banana and Corn flavour though.

4. Everyone in class would tremble in fear when someone with a gauze stuck in the mouth came to your class and called out a name to go visit the school dentist.

p/s: I was so scared of the nurse and her dentist chair. And yah, why the hell did the nurse send some kid with a bloody cotton guaze to call for the next “victim”??? *Tramatised*

5. You’ve probably read the Young Generation magazine. You know who’s Vinny the Little Vampire and Constable Acai. For some, cikgu will always ask to buy the “Dewan Bahasa” magazine.

p/s: I remebered the mag! And I really liked Vinny, the little vamp with his cute, little sharp teeth.

6. You longed to buy tidbits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week. Not forgetting the 15-cent animal crackers and the ringpop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring. There were such things like the 20-cent dinosaur eggs, the 10-cent satay, Choki Choki Chocolate Sticks and the all favorite 10-cent “Sng Pow” that broke into two parts to be shared amongst friends.

p/s: O yes, all these wonderful snacks that only cost 10c to 30c! And I remembered the bubble-gum that cost 10c per piece and had a stick-on tattoo. I was wearing those stick-on tattoos on my arms like some trophy badges until my mum would force me to wash those away. Then I would go and buy new gums with new tattoos!


7. You grew up reading ladybird books. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven were probably the thickest story books you ever thought you had. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers. You also love Enid Blyton’s Enchanted Wood, Magic Faraway tree, and the 5-dollar Bookworm book you bought when there was a book fair in school.

p/s: All time fav was Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree! I really enjoyed those books about farms, animals and elves, and I wondered why wasn’t there an elv in Singapore. I thought if I were to go England, then I’ll find an elv and we could be friends. Haha…

8. Waterbottles, with your favorite cartoon character on it, were slung around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

p/s: I think mine was blue with Doraemon AND smurfs stickers!

9. Hopscotch, five stones, chapteh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too. Remember 5 times, highest, one-inch?

p/s: I was the zero-point queen. So much so that, the track-and-field teacher dragged me to train for High Jump. Didn’t quite work out though…

10. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives. Remember the “Young Scientist” badge you got when you completed the set of tasks in written on the blue booklet for “Young Ecologist”, “Young Botanist”, etc? The first excursion to the Science Centre was the best day of your life.

p/s: I had so many of those badges! And oh, the 1st excursion to the Omni Theatre was the best day of my life, my primary school life lah.

11. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit and wipe yourself dry. Then you wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

p/s: That I didn’t do. My mum would just wrapped little red plastic bags over my shoes and that was it. I had to go to school all by myself (less than 5 mins walk) and when I was older, dragged my 2 little brothers along too.

12. After exams, you brought Game & Watch to school, and played card games like “Snap”, “Donkey” and “Old Maid”. You also played pick-up sticks and Snakes & Ladders and the aeroplane board game. Those erasers with the flags were also a popular game. Either that or you would play those cards comparing aeroplanes, warships, or tanks — who had more firepower or speed or weight, etc.

p/s: Those colorful pick-up sticks were so much fun! And the erasers with the flags, haha, we were supposed to flip them around, the eraser which landed on top of the other would win and the winner would confiscate the loser’s eraser. Oh, the boys were really good at that.

I wonder do kids these days still play such simple games anymore….