Forever Young
October 26, 2002, 12:45 PM
"I don't want to grow up,
I'm a Toys �R� Us Kid ...�
Still remember when that catchy little tune was playing
on all our TV screens at home, complete with scenes of
happy children bouncing around proclaiming their joy at
being kids and not adults? True, that advertisement has
since then disappeared from sight, but the message there
is plain: that kids are happy being kids, and they don't
want to grow up.
That view seems to be held all over the world. There was
Peter Pan, the original Forever Young character,
swooping around Never Never Land with his green costume,
pointed hat, and devoted fairy Tinkerbelle. Everywhere,
you read about youngsters having incredible adventures,
while their adult counterparts just sat there quietly
disapproving and getting older. While, of course, the
kids bring in the police, arrest the drug smugglers,
save the day, and make their parents look totally stupid
for having doubted them in the first place. Such was the
Enid Blyton stuff we grew up on.
Still, there're also children who want to grow up as
fast as possible, so as to have a taste of the outside
world. So that they can understand what it's like to do
all the things that they've watched the adults do,
wistfully waiting for a chance to prove themselves in
the 'real world'. I must confess that I once thought
like that myself ... when I was in primary school, I
would long for the day when I was old enough to take the
public bus and go home by myself. That, I thought, would
be the ultimate taste of freedom. Now, I have them - but
frankly, what good are they? Walking home day after day
in the sweltering sun - no way. And even going out with
my friends, a new concession of secondary school life
... these pale after a while, especially contrasted
against the pile of homework and exams that come with
age.
Maybe that is the crux of the matter - the things we
have to deal with, as we grow older. Maybe once the
world might have been an exciting place, full of
opportunities and bright futures ... but now, is it
still so? Look at the war in Iraq, look at the recession
in America, look at the return of Hong Kong to China in
1997 - matters we're going to have to deal with next
time. When we grow up, there're going to be so many
things that we'll have to face. Careers, relationships,
ambitions ... can you imagine how we're ever going to
manage all that, when we complain about being stressed
out at present because of the Science test next week?
It's no wonder that so many of us want to remain in this
twilight age forever, not wanting to grow up. In this
time and place, we've become attached to so many things
... our teachers, our friends, even our studies - these
all combine to give us a comforting sense of reassurance
and familiarity. And maybe it means a lot more to us
than we think.
Can any of us imagine life three or four years down the
road, when you finally break up from all those friends
that you've made along the way? Those friends whom
you've joked with, freaked out under the pressure of
homework with, confided your secrets to ... just like
that, all that you shared, all that constituted
friendship, will be gone. Do we want that to happen -
not if we have the choice of staying within this safe
period, a time filled with laughter, with talking on the
phone till 3 am, with forming study groups in the
preparation of the exams (which inevitably turn around
to gossip), with just being happy?
I don't think so. And that's why, when Peter Pan says,
"Clap if you believe in fairies!" ... well, I guess I
would.
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