When I was young kid in primary school, friends were people that inject the fun factor into my life mostly and at times a little bit of sorrows when we fight or quarrel sometimes over the most petty of matters. I grew up in public housing in Singapore widely known as HDB where about 80% of the population of Singapore are housed in. During that 1970s, most of these housing were very monolithic and crammed but there were ample open spaces for us kids to amuse ourselves in. When amusement hour comes, you can find the open spaces littered with children out at play. Although we were economically challenged to some extent, there was no lack of fun. With a few marbles, a couple of sandbox ( not of the corporate variant ), holes on the sandy pit and a few play mates and we have a game of marbles. It was to a certain extent an integrated resort for kids as the end in mind was to end up with as much marbles as possible by winning them over from your friends. Of course, there would be winners and losers, good and bad days as in all games. Sometimes, these games do end up in squabbles over whether there is a foul or not or whether there was any cheating by squatting beyond the permitted line in the sand. As we are of varying age and size, normally, the ones with longer limbs have an advantage but shooting skills does play an important part as well. Besides marbles, we also played football but of a different variety. As most of us were too poor to afford a proper football, a cheap plastic ball with foot wear to mark the goal post with the height element missing. It is normally played on cemented floor or along the corridors.
I began to recollect my past as I watched China marked the anniversary of the terrible earth quake that took and re-arranged many lives in Chengdu about 1 year ago. A dated news footage of children playing happily against a backdrop of the ruin days after the terrible earth quake oblivion to the misery all around. In that sense, the poor neighborhood that I grew up was in a sense the backdrop of the ruin with many families literally living from pay cheque to pay cheque and a day's delay could mean much hardship. However, when we kids were at play, I could recall very few if any displayed any of that misery. Perhaps it is a special ability bestowed on kids to enable them to cope better in such situations. Such abilities seems to wear out gradually as we mature with age.
In that sense, there is something magical about childhood that perhaps we ought not only to cherish but also to preserve and live by as appropriate.
Dedicated to my two children Deborah Lye and John Ross Lye.
Peter Lye aka lkypeter
Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye
