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Hobbies of Yesteryears

Before internet became popular...

we played board games, hopscotch, hide-and-seek,

we had plenty of pretend play,

we had hobbies such as collecting stamps, badges and game cards. Or had pen pals, read books and magazines.

Do you miss those times?

Honestly, I do.

I am a Xennial. I would prefer to be identified as a Xennial rather than a Gen X. It is a term brought about by Dan Woodman, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He believes that those born between 1977 to 1983 should be given a different identity from either the Gen X or the Millennials. Mainly because this group of people grew up during the transition years. To understand more on this topic, you can check an article from this link. http://mentalfloss.com/article/502250/how-tell-if-youre-xennial

STAMP COLLECTING


I inherited stamps from my aunties. I had pre WWII stamps. Unfortunately, due to relocations after relocations, I have lost track of where I kept them.


READING

All my storybooks and novels were passed down to my cousins. I started from Fairy Tales (Ladybird) to Mystery Series  (Enid Blyton's books that were translated to Malay) to Sweet Valley High. My favourite would always be Enid Blyton's "Secret Five" mystery series.


WRITING

 PEN PALS
One of my cousins who lives overseas started writing to me when I was in primary school. From then onwards, I started writing letters and made a few pen friends throughout my primary and secondary school years.

POEMS
I love to write poems. I would write them on beautiful letter pads and put them up on the walls in my room. While others decorated their rooms with posters of their favourite celebrities, mine was full of poems written on letter pads.


 LETTERPADS COLLECTING


During those years, I had a friend who loved letter pads too. The letter pads came with matching envelops. She started exchanging letter pads and envelops with me and we even had folders with transparent holders to keep them. My sister and I would spend most of our pocket money on this hobby.





LISTENING TO SONGS

As I attended a Malay school, it would be natural for me to love Malay songs. I grew up reading Malay entertainment magazines and sang Malay songs. Pop songs like "Isabella" by Search group, "Aku Masih Terasa" by Gersang group and "Apa Khabarmu Di Sana" by Ramlah Ram. I only started listening to Mandarin pop when I was in Form 4 (second last year of high school). I was a fan of Emil Chau for many, many years and I picked up my Mandarin through singing his songs.








What were your hobbies during your childhood years?

Would you try to pass down or influence your children to pick up the same hobbies? Why or why not?





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