50 things for Singaporean teenagers (I'm a teenager???). Sit
back, enjoy and think back about the past...Were you one of
these?
1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silver hawk and
Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles and Smurfs too.
2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school
during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your
classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug.
The teachers said you must brush each side10 times too.
3. You know what's Bin(1) Fen(1) Ba (1) San(1) is all about.
4. You know what SBC stands for.
5. You were there when the first chinese serial, the Awakening was
shown on TV.
6.Internet? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more
ago.
7. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in
Secondary school.
8. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made
of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud
BEEEP! when pressed.There are colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The
conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a
hole on the ticket.
9. Your favourite actor and actress is Huang Wenyong and Xiangyun.
Next is Lee Nanxing and Zoe Tay and the Aiyoyo woman.
10. You've probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who's
Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable.
11. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went
for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the
seat to see the scenery.
12. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
13. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie
Dolls.
14. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.
15. You longed to buy tibits 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 cents animal crackers and the ring
pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.
16. You watched TV2(also known as Channel 10) cartoons because
Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.
17. All that you know about Cantonese is from the Hong Kong serials
you watched on TV2.
18.Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and
Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought
you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers.
19.Civics and Moral Education was "Hao3 Gong1 Min2".
20. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in
plates and let you use metal forks and knives.
21. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE
MOST EXTREME WAS 'super white'...you just couldn't bring yourself
to say the hokkien relative.
22. Catching was the IN thing and twist the magic word.
23. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper
that was smooth and yellow.
24. CDIS was your best friend.
25. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised
characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you
maths.
26. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must
everywhere you go.
27. Boys loved to play soccer with small tennis balls in the
basketball court or play something that uses tennis ball to hit
other players known as "HANTAM BOLA" during recess /after
school
28. Hopskotch, five stones,chateh and zero point were all the rage
with the girls and boys too...
29. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most
important plants of our lives.
30. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our
minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally.
31. You did stupid exercises like seal crawl and frog jumps.
32. Every children's day and national day you either get pins or
pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with Happy
National Day 1994'.
33. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like
big sister and brother.
34. Chinese teachers were always old, boring and damn fierce
looking.
35. Your form teacher taught you maths, science and english.
36. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor
quality.
37. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained,
and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet,
and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.
38. Famous Chinese singers were only Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron
Kwok and Leon Lai
39. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.
40. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost
everyday.
41. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave
you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.
42. During class gatherings, parents always tag along in case
someone gets lost at Orchard Road.
43. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according
to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.
44. Handkerchiefs were a must for both genders
45. Collecting notebooks and all kinds of stationery was a popular
thing.
46. Autograph books were loaded with "Best Wishes", "Forget Me
Not", and small poems like "Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend
like you, hard to forget".
47. Class monitors and prefects loved to say "You talk somemore, I
write your name ah!"
48. There were at least 40 people in one class.
49. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.
50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was
one thing called the timetable.
