‘Gone Fishing’
Not too long ago, I received an e-mail which talked about the simple things in life. The e-mail ended with the phrase “Life was simple when Apple and Blackberry were names of fruits”. Hence, when I saw the following pictures (below) from Charlie….
…..I began to wonder: what was life like back then? Do boys (maybe some girls too?) still go fishing with their dads/buddies? I know in some housing areas, the common padang is almost empty (save for a few kids on their bicycles). To the youth out there – what is YOUR favourite way of passing time?
My late father was a big soccer fan. Most of my childhood was spent watching Ipoh League matches, whether it was at Taman DR, Ipoh Padang or the field at Greentown. Strange thing though I am not a soccer fan. I only become a cendol critic as there was a cendol seller at each field.
When I was a kid I used to catch black spiders and put them in match boxes with some leaves. The best places to do this is the Kinta river bank and the vacant lot (now Bangunan Islam) opposite Poi Lam School. Not sure if kids do them these days. Guess they’re too engrossed with their computer games and digital stuff.
Azlan, the cendel seller at the Greentown field is no longer there. I guess he moved his business elsewhere…maybe some of our Readers might know
Aaron, I couldn’t agree with you more. most kids these days are into PlayStation/X-Box or hunched over their iPhones
Hi Felicia,
During one of my brief visits to Ipoh, some friends took me to the food court in Jaya Jusco for lunch. There was a stall with a signboard that read “Original Greentown Cendol.” My foodie instincts got the better of me and without the any hesitation, I ordered a bowl. To my amazement, the cendol was surprisingly good and I went back for second and third helpings before I call it a day. That was a couple of years ago and I am not sure if this stall is still there. Check it out if you are interested. It’s worth a try.
thanks, Ken. has anyone else tried this cendol place in Jaya Jusco? is it truely the famed ‘Greentown Cendol’…perhaps the stall is run by the same family?
There were activities according the time of the year. There were playing tops (including making our own), kite flying (also making our own), Siamese fish fighting, spider fighting, catching small scorpions, fishing or catching fish at ponds and mining pools, swimming at the hot spring, streams, rivers (including Kinta River which was clean then) and waterfalls, etc. There was also this thingy made from flowers tied with rubber bands, which was kicked to keep it from falling to the ground. “Popiah” was played with a small rubber ball. Court games include one-leg, “kong kuan”, “sadudu” (something like the Indian kabadi). Most of the games are physical activities that kept us active and worn out at the end of the day. Kids nowadays don’t know any of these activities.
Steven you are right…..kids these days would rather be glued to their PCs/Play Station/X-Box than be out in the open running around
I’m sure this was unintentional but, Steven Lee, you’ve left out marbles, man!
Speaking about marbles, in the 60′s , clay marbles were more widely used than the modern day glass marbles. The clay marbles were just a dull grey colour and not as pretty or long lasting as the colourful glass ones but they were much cheaper.
The clay marbles came in two sizes. Initially, the glass marbles were available in three sizes, large, medium and small. However, the medium size became the standard. Later, there was also a different opaque,’milky’ glass type introduced. Although, these chipped and broke quite easily.
The most popular game was called ‘Licence’. The players placed their agreed number of marbles in a circle. A line was drawn some distance from this circle. The players rolled teir marbles from the circle towards this line. Player with his marble nearest to the line starts! When a marble from the collection got hit out of the circle, that marble was the players’ to keep and he gets his licence. The licence being granted to hit an opponent’s marble with his to get him out of the game. Last man standing gets all the marbles in the circle. The marble used to strike must also go out of the circle and the player continues to strike again. If his striker marble remains within the circle, he loses his licence and the striker marble thrown away!
Yup, marbles! I remember that marbles were either white porcelain that has patterns on their surface and clear glass that had swirls in the center. Glass marbles were preferred because they don’t chip as easily as porcelain marbles. I didn’t keep any marbles, tops or kites because they were passed on to my younger brothers as I outgrew them. Now I wish that I had!
There was a time when we played with caps of soft drink bottles that were hammered flat, threaded with a string and spun to cut each others’ string. “Lala” shells were pressed against another to see which shell was the “toughest”.
Then there were some dangerous games, such as making darts from sticks with needles bound with rubber bands as the point, and making guns using rubber bands and long iron nails. This brings to mind the catapult that no self-respecting boy can miss out. There was a gun that strikes small exploding “dots” in a roll. Teachers went around confiscating the guns, which they say was too dangerous.
Some may also remember playing with cards printed with characters from popular TV programs and plastic figures. Come to think of it, the last two were a waste of money.
Many of the games were of no or little cost. Most games that kids play nowadays are costly and involved little physical activities. We played in the sun and rain, and very rarely get sick. We used to either walk or cycle everywhere.