REFLECTIONS THAT MOULDED 

(impromptu)

by Jenifer

11/4/13

   The childhood memories that hold dear to my heart were the ones spent in Sarikei, the town I was born. In the early 70s, it was indeed a sleepy, rustic and country-bumpkin kind of town that you could relate to a cowboy movie. What I like best was, we could walk anywhere and reach there in matter of 10-15 minutes; plus no traffic congestion-hardly many cars back then. People were mostly walking, cycling or on motor-cycles.

    Why I re-enact this, I was so unhappy when my father decided to move the family to Kuching. This happened when I was eleven years old. I could not imagine departing from my best friends, and the fact that I cycle to school everyday. In fact, I grew independent because of that bicycle which my father had given as a prize for achieving first position in my class when I was in Primary Three.

Moving to Kuching meaned no more cycling to school. No more bicycle gangs-yes, indeed, I had my bicycle gang-Maria, Adeline and Alice. I will lose the liberty to cycle to the town library with my little brother riding on the carrier behind my Mini-bike. Kuching is such a big town!

You can clearly imagine my distraught on the first day at school as a new girl in Kuching town. The atmosphere was so different from Sarikei. I missed all that freedom. I felt gagged in Kuching. There was no where I could go without my parents or an adult, because I was only eleven years old. Moreover, we could not walk to the town any longer. We had to take the bus, because Kuching was a bigger town than Sarikei, hence, all distances were longer!

    Looking back, I realised how much simplicity in life actually holds dear to me, than the complicated routines. I remember them more vividly than the chaotic mode I was in when I was in Kuching. I hold onto them with fondness on my dreary days. In fact, those simple bicycle days were what moulded me to being independent later in my college years. On top of that, moving away from the rustic mundane town, also was an eye-opener, which refreshed to adapt to various environment and cultures. If I had stayed put in the town where I was born, I would have grown up to be a hermit and possibly not graduated with a degree from overseas.