you know galah panjang??

kids today and kids in the past.

i smsed a boy to set the time for our jogging session this afternoon, and he replied, 'i will only finish my tuition at 5.30. can we go at six?'

aah...mentioned so nonchalantly. no doubt, it is no longer strange to hear daily schedules centered around tuition classes. i can't go here, i can't do that...i have my tuition to attend and i have my tuition homework to complete.

and their physical activities nowadays ...some are limited to finger activities only in front of the computer. or some of their activities are all related to rules. rules rules and rules. go for a badminton game, first book a court, then play according to the rules in the games.

what happen to free style activities? hey, you free? let's grab some marbles and play outside the sand pit in front of your house. or, let's find enough people to play 'galah panjang'. gosh, that was my favourite game when young. what about playing with that chain of rubber bands and trying to cross the rubber-band chain without touching it. man, some guys were really agile and beat us girls. batu seremban anyone? yes, boys also joined. police and soldiers chasing game. we were on. that was our active lifestyle. we needed no bicycle just for that one hour of physical activity. everywhere we went was on our faithful bicycles and it was our mode of transport, not a tool for exercise.

why did the hot sun not come to us as a hindrance in carrying out the activities? was the sun less brighter and less hot in those days? i remember going early to school (secondary)in the afternoon session just to grab a spot on the volleyball court to play galah panjang. latecomers would be relegated to audience at the sides of the court. and there was once, during exam. the paper we sat for was moral education. i had no idea why the teacher allowed us to leave the classroom after we finished answering the paper, but we did. so the first few people to finish answering, got out to the volleyball court which happened to be just outside our classroom and waited for the right number of people to fill up all the spaces required in the game galah panjang. as soon as the slots were filled, it was time to choose the members of your team and the game started. of course i was one of the first few to come out. hey, i was one of the best in this game ok.

ahh...the good old carefree days. no wonder my generation can adapt so easily and is tougher and rounder. everyone, boys and girls had equal roles in the games, race was not mentioned at all in the selection and we communicated in one language we were familiar with-bm.

this post is my dedication to 1 malaysia theme encouraged by the nation in conjunction with the coming national day. no one should harp on our differences to create a divide. there should be no boundaries separating us all as we live on this land breathing the same air.

the good old days would remain in the past, but the experience and joy and fun gained would remain till eternity.