This article is taken from today's "The Star"
(p/s i really missed those days)

HAPPY DAYS
The carefree childhood of yesteryear may well be a thing of the past
BY CAROL LEI

FREEDOM, a rare commodity these days, is gradually being robbed from us in the most subtle ways. In an ironic twist of modernisation, we have more dangers and diseases to contend with. I cannot help but make comparisons with the days of yesteryear.

My schooldays were reminiscent of priceless freedom when I cycled to my hockey games with a hockey stick balanced across the handlebars of my bicycle. My parents never had to worry about insane drivers or about their precious daughter being kidnapped.

Schoolgirls back then had sun-kissed complexion and never worried about UV rays while indulging in a game of rounders until the moon peeped over the sunset. The only Sun Tan we knew was a character in a comic strip.

We quenched our thirst between games at the tap nearest to our field or court, and drank straight from it. Fluoride was good for our teeth then. We never heard of reverse osmosis or mineral water.

We happily sucked on shaved ice shaped into balls with generous dollops of syrup, as we tossed them from one palm to another and walked 3km home from school. Ice was ice, and not some designer drug.

......to be continued