I was having my lunch with Emily at Nandos the other day, and in came a group of whipper snappers. 4 boys and a girl. The girl had a kiddy face and a pair of fully developed tits, I presume those bunch must be at the age range between 12 – 14. Ahhhhh, the golden itchy age. When everything starts to look very different, and our hormones would circulate in high pressure to make us that rebellious hero against our ever so wrong parents.
And I reckon that was what must be going on in those kids’ lives. Dress to impress – branded sneakers, chic watches, funky hairstyles, phone with mp3 players, etc. And where did I see those kids again? Nandos. That’s hell of a posh restaurant for me, at any stage in my life. As an adult, I only dine there like… once in a while… just for the sauce, it’s still damn expensive for my standard. But those kids walked in as if they’ve been there thousands of times. They didn’t even need to look at the menu. Sheesh.
Thinking back… when I was at that age, I didn’t even get enough money to take a bus there. My mom only gave me 1 ringgit per day as pocket money. A buck that could buy no shit even in the late 80′s. I’d hoover my lunch at a shoddy economic rice stall after school, I remember, for a hardly filling plate of rice.
white rice – 30 cents
a scoop of sour vegetable stew – 30 cents
plenty of curry gravy – free
total – 60 cents.
If I ever got thirsty, I’d buy a pack of soy bean drink for 20 cents and I would still have another 20 cents left. That was not enough for a bus ride even if I was in my school uniform. I would hence spend off that 20 cents to buy a few guppy fishes and release it to the nearby stream to gain some good karma.
Kidding.
You’d be a spastic if you believed that. Kids at that age have no conscience. That 20 cents, I would spend it inside the local arcade game outlet for a round of ‘Double Dragon‘. Oh yeah.
In the age when there were only 3 channels on TV, personal computers as expensive as your family car’s gearbox, and everything on the console looked like a calculator on steroid, ‘Double Dragon’ became a big thing for the kids. 20 cents for a 10 minutes’ worth of orgasmic ass kicking entertainment – it was every kid’s desire – just located around the corner of the street. It was as addictive as a bar of chocolate (only that it’s much much cheaper than a bar of chocolate).
Who would have thought, fast forward a decade and a half later, kids would each own a personal computer right in their own room, with unlimited source of porns, games and friends online? And as if that’s not enough, they even have a fancy cellphone to go with them (which, is powerful enough to host the ‘Double Dragon’ game!), and enough pocket money to afford a late afternoon snack at some expensive family restaurant with their buddies… Goddamn.
That makes me think a bit, how would I feel if I were to be showered with all those goodies like the contemporary kids in the 21st century? For now, I’m gonna imagine myself as a very happy boy with all these gadgets to keep me entertained. But in reality, I know I’m not going to be as happy as I have imagined. That’s because I know, when one has the riches around him, he’s not going to enjoy the wealth. Any goodness is best enjoyed if it is scarce and hard earned…
But right now, I’m worried about my own kid. I dread of having to spend money for her to have
1) a personal computer with unlimited source of porn, games and friends online
2) a fancy cellphone powerful enough to host ‘Double Dragon’
3) enough pocket money to afford a late afternoon snack at Nandos
Perhaps I should just toss her a buck and ask her to figure everything out herself.
*excuse me for the looking-back-the-old-days reflections. I’m right now at the juncture of advancing to an advanced stage of my life… such behavior is kinda expected… according to experts. So, bear with me until I reach 40, which then, I’m gonna step into middle age crisis and you’ll get to read something different then. And oh, you people may call me uncle if you want, I just don’t give a flying fuck anymore.
dude… don’t worry so much about all that. I believe you’ll do just fine when ur kids growing up in this digital age.
Some new age parents came from a world that didn’t get more pampering (read: expensive toys, gadgets, etc) than they wish they had, so they splurge all they can for their kids, hence, spoiling them. And then the other group where these parents were spoiled brats when young, would likely to give their kids the same spoiling coz that’s all they know.
As for you, you know darn well that making them kids work for it – would benefit them as they grow up. Don’t worry, you’ll do just fine, I’m sure of it… otherwise, we’ll just get more interesting stories on your blog about your failure as a parent! muahahahaa :p
Hmmm… for my time i was still ok… my father got me the oldest or maybe the first game console…
The Atari…. pacman, snoopy the red flying baron, sharks, and some real serious classic racing car (which you can only look at the back of the car)
Remember the ATARI?
nowadays… PS2… PSP… RMORG from Digi… I don’t even know how to play Final Fantasy in PS2… shit…
Ah well, there is something known as Thesis and Anti-Thesis. Say your parents were stingy and only gave you RM1 to spend back in the old days(thesis), YOU should not treat your daughter/son that way because you know how it feels like to have limited spending money (anti-thesis). Meaning, you should be what your parents were not-more generous :).
Last time policemen wear shorts, now they wear pants! :P
Well written! I’ve even heard of 14, 15 year olds who have supplementary cards.
…………. now u hv reflecting my younger days… where personal computers as expensive as your family car’s gearbox, a bowl of soup noodles cost 30cents, junk food was 10cents a pack, and we worked to get what we wanna buy/own.
i agree wif u, michael. nothing beats working and earning for what we have now (house, car etc). we appreciate it a whole lot more :)
now i wonder if everyone dat reaches a certain stage in life will start to think liddat…?
we have to accept the facts…
tht teenagers are advancing… while we are not..
though i still think handphones in primary school is too much…
now i understand why my mom keep on telling me about the $0.10 noodles soup or %0.05 ice-cream…
or abt they watching b&w TV
hehe
Dude, you echo my thoughts perfectly.
Though I wasn’t raised and schooled in the 80s (for me, it was mid/late 90s/early 2000s), my school allowance was approximately yours: I got just 3 bucks for a day.
RM1.50 to 2 bucks would go to (usually cheap-ass, dirty) food (usually nasi ayam, because there’s not much choice), the other 50 cents or 1 dollar for a drink.
So it pains me when I see 11 year old kids getting RM50 per day (I’m not kidding), or walking stupidly with their RM2000 Nokia handphones in hand, or frequenting any posh restaurants and acting as if they’re just visiting a mamak stall.
Had this been an anarchist country full of cannibals, I’d have ripped out their hearts through their asses and feasted on those delightfully bloody organs. Warghaq ethgq380qadfna.
I hate spoiled brats.
lol…uncle michael…like zbjernak said…is the same thing when ur mum tells u how lucky u r to have 1 ringgit perday as pocket money and during her time 10cents is sufficient during her time…and they dun even have arcade center to waste 20cents…so dun compare la…UNCLE!!!!
ahhahahaha
reminds me of the days back in standard 1 where i had to make do with 50 cents a day… 30 cents for a bowl of wantan mee n 20 cents for drinks.. if i save up on drinks, i get to buy a popsicle after school…
i’m now 20 yrs old and i get rm50 a week.. which is sufficient enough for lunch and my assignment stuff..
waitamin what do you mean 11 yr olds get rm50 a week?!! i’m a college student and i get d same amount?!! O.O
spoilt. that’s wat kids are nowadays.
the Michael-Emily hybrid is a “her”? When did you guys find out? I must have missed the post…
What pisses me off at this stage in life is all the stupid kids who just came to college to get drunk and smoke pot. Esp since I was a foreign student who studied like mad to get to the US and then worked like mad to have enough money to finish. All those spoonfed little wankers…irritating sial.
Oh ! It’s a baby girl !
Oh you are going to get a lot of fun and both of you and Emily would be so in love with her then, I assure you !
leng zai mike, you dont need to give ur daughter enough money for a snack at nandos. just give her enough education ;]
Just remember, these spoiled kid who have everything handed to them will never be able to accomplish anything on their own. They will be leeches on their parents until their parents get tired of them or get too old to support them.
Then they will become homeless, or prostitutes and gigelows. heehee
enough education? what’s enough? In 10 – 20 years’ time, if my kid is not smart/lucky enough for a scholarship, I’m gonna have to fork out all my EPF savings for just her Pre-U course. (even a simple math tuition for a secondary student nowadays costs a bomb …)
Oh wait, by that time, I ain’t old enough to withdraw my EPF yet. Maybe I’m gonna have to do part time stripping for Shapeshifters… gawddamn!
A fellow Malaysian studying in my uni in Australia got cheated of $800 Aussie dollars by buying a phone over ebay. (Plain stupidity…the way he got cheated was plain wtf.) And then he spend anothe 400 buying another phone. So in all, he spent 1200AUS buyin a hp, which amounts to around RM3000…
Hell! I worked as a part time salesperson before going overseas, and I only earned RM1000 for standing on my feet for 8-10 hours everyday, with only one day off.
My parents would kill me twice. Once for being stupid, the 2nd for wasting so much money.
Spoilt brats. Bah.
“Oh wait, by that time, I ain’t old enough to withdraw my EPF yet. Maybe I’m gonna have to do part time stripping for Shapeshifters… gawddamn!”
Don’t think that will earn you much. Maybe you have to sell some organs or something :P
yeah rite 20 cents seemed as big as a BIG BULL LOCK CART WHEEL that time. haha
the looking back part….it come with age….
I used to hate my parents saying ” when I was at ya age I ya da ya da ya da….(which apparently I forget what they say”
….so i think parents now should stop saying this as i think it useless..
lol, i love double dragon too back then :D heh, remember when my mum came and pulled my ears, practically dragging me back from the arcade shop one time.. damn memalukan
20 cent? get a double scoop ice-cream. Got some weird disease that I should not eat ice-cream or else I will cough like a dying pneumonia patient. I didnt give a damn then.
Double Dragon? Hehehe… that was a great game back then…