childhood memories

dont ask me why.. but i can only remember things from ten years old onwards.. anything before is a blank! perhaps something serious or major happened to me.. perhaps not.. ;P

but i do remember 3 key things when i was ten. ;-)

1. Ng Su San. She was a classmate from another class. She's a sweet and kind hearted gal. I liked her sunshine smile and her soft, warmth & friendly voice. Over the span of 25 over years we have contacted & lost contact many times over.. But this time we really lost contact.. somehow i couldnt reach her using her mobile no, home and all.. btw, she's married with 2 pretty & handsome kids (one gal & one boy). Also, we once make a pact to stay in touch till we grow old & die.. i miss my friend and wish we will meet again one day.

2. 'Ah Suay' aka small bro. i remember when i was ten, i had an enemy (cant remember why - just cant see eye to eye i guess).. we fought or almost.. coz my small bro would come with flying kicks and beat him off.. so i didnt need to raise a fist! ;-) He was my saviour. My hero! We lost contact when we went to secondary school.. however, as we live in the same neighbourhood, we sometimes knock into each other, and we would chat for a while.. that's good enough for me since we have different lifestyle now. Then, i moved.. and then one day on a bus i met another old school gal.. she told me small bro met an accident in JB months ago.. her galfriend was the driver.. lost control and crashed. He died in that accident. Makes me realised that life is so fragile. Must treasure life indeed! His death motivated me to live a fulfilling life.

3. Programming. When i was ten, my elder bro bought the world first 1k RAM computer with the screen using the TV.. that's how old.. He was using basic language and hit a bug which he couldnt resolve. i, a little ten years old boy, sitting there, never touch a computer before, was watching my elder bro trying to solve the bug in vain. Then, i called out to him "Brother, your line xx is incorrect.." The last thing i remember is my brother scolding me! ;-( He must be jealous - for a ten years old to tell him, a sixteen years old, how to do programming.. In the end, he did what i pointed out to him and it worked!! That was a defining moment for me - coz since then i aimed to be a software guru when i grow up. Well,.. i waited for 17 years before i actually held the title of programmer! But that programmer lifespan was short lived.. i was top in class when it comes to programming.. the sad thing is that as a hobby it was fun.. not so when it's your job. no more fun. stressful instead. and my eyes hurt when i stared on the screen too long.. still, no regrets.. my interest shifted into business. now i can leverage on IT knowledge to grow the biz.