Yesterday once more


A friend of mine is doing a book project. She sent an e-mail requiring each one of us to respond to this one liner..."Things I would like to tell my 16 year old self".

I've been putting it off because it's hard to remember the details.

If you're in the Malaysian school system, 16 is a beautiful age to live in. That's because you would have just finished your first public exam i.e. the Lower Certification of Education (LCE) or Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP). It's the transition year from junior to senior high. Kids like to call it the "honeymoon" year. At least you get a mini break from Mom's constant nagging to study hard or risk failing and end up in life like a garbage man. If I had known that I would end up working for a filthy-rich German garbage man anyway, I would have said, "So be it!" But that would result in more ear-bashing.

Anyway, being 16 for me is much ado about nothing. Life at 16 is a blah. Nothing significant happened to me. In fact, my birthday is 5 days before X'mas so turning sixteen with 11 days left in the calendar year is kind of an anti-climax. What sweet sixteen??? My supposedly memorable birthday was over-shadowed by another person's birthday with the initials J.C. Furthermore, He works miracles and I only know how to work a miracle with the oven.

So what would I tell my 16 year old self? Just continue on with your studies & extra-curricular activities in school, choose your friends wisely, relish your hobbies, peer pressure is meaningless when you have strong principles and enjoy being a teenager responsibly. I would also tell my 16 year old self not to be a grown-up too soon because life does not get easy with age. Your teenage issues may be serious but the issues you face and responsibility you bear later on as an adult are much more arduous. That's what I know now that I didn't 17 years ago. Seems like a long time isn't it? I think I will email this to my friend. It's long overdue. I hope she's hasn't started publishing!

Anyone remember Sixteen Candles?