THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Four individuals recall the memorable moments of their childhood and the flashbacks remind us that there will always be a child in us no matter how old we get

When I was young, most of my afternoons and weekends would be spent at home. I will drag my sister to go to our neighbourhood tuck shop for treats. It was a 10-minute walk in the sun to the shop. The moment we got our hands on our favourite candies and ice treats, the entire adventure (which most of the time involved being chased by dogs!) would always be worth the effort! I spent most of my childhood up in the air. My dad is a pilot. The only time we could spend some quality time together was during school holidays where I would follow him on his flights. Some of the best memories I have include just sitting there with my dad. Since then, I have always looked forward to holidays so that I could travel with him and my passion grew so much that I decided to enter the aviation industry. One of my favourite childhood memories is going to the A&W drive-through in PJ with my parents and brother. A coney dog with a side of fries and a root beer float was a little slice of heaven on earth. When Ruben (Gnanalingam) and I started dating, he took me there and it became our special Valentine’s Day celebration venue. Recently, we went back there with our children! During my childhood, I really looked forward to an evening playing with other children in my neighbourhood. At 5pm, we would go outside and play at the garden compound. We did outdoor activities like playing a game of rounders or ‘masakmasak’ using real leaves as vegetables, small branches as fish and stones to replace meat. Nowadays, I have to say, children are more into their gadgets than doing any outdoor activities.