50 memorable things for Singaporean teenagers. Sit, enjoy and think back about the past… Were you one of these?

  1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silver hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles and Smurfs too.
  2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a colored mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.
  3. You know what’s Bin(1) Fen(1) Ba (1) San(1)is all about.
  4. You know what SBC stands for.
  5. You were there when the first chinese serial, the Awakening was shown on TV.
  6. Internet? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more ago.
  7. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.
  8. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEEP! when pressed. There are colorful tickets for TIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole on the ticket.
  9. Your favourite actor and actress is Huang Wenyong and Xiangyun. Next is Lee Nanxing and Zoe Tay and the Aiyoyo woman.
  10. You’ve probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who’s Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable.
  11. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.
  12. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
  13. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls.
  14. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.
  15. You longed to buy tibits called Kaka(20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang(50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.
  16. You watched TV2(also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.
  17. All that you know about Cantonese is from the Hong Kong serials you watched on TV2.
  18. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers.
  19. Civics and Moral Education was “Hao3 Gong1 Min2”.
  20. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.
  21. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THEMOSTEXTREME WAS ‘super white’… you just couldn’t bring yourself to say the hokkien relative.
  22. Catching was the IN thing and twist was the magic word.
  23. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.
  24. CDIS was your best friend.
  25. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellisedcharacters in 16 colors walking about trying to teach you maths.
  26. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.
  27. Boys loved to play soccer with small tennis balls in the basketball court.
  28. Hopskotch, five stones,chateh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too…
  29. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives.
  30. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Willy.
  31. You did stupid exercises like seal crawl and frog jumps.
  32. Every children’s day and national day you either get pins or pens with’Happy Children’s Day 1993′ or dumb files with Happy National Day 1994′.
  33. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.
  34. Chinese teachers were always old, boring and damn fiercelooking.
  35. Your form teacher taught you maths, science and english.
  36. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.
  37. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained,and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.
  38. Famous Chinese singers were only Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai.
  39. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.
  40. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.
  41. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.
  42. During class gatherings, parents always tag along in case someone gets lost at Orchard Road.
  43. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.
  44. Handkerchiefs were a must for both genders.
  45. Collecting notebooks and all kinds of stationery was a popular thing.
  46. Autograph books were loaded with “Best Wishes”, “ForgetMeNot”, and small poems like “Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget”.
  47. Class monitors and prefects loved to say “You talk somemore, I write your name ah!”
  48. There were at least 40 people in one class.
  49. Large, colorful schoolbags were carried.
  50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.