Today is Children’s Day here in Singapore. It is also the 15th day in the eighth month of the Lunar Calendar – a day when Chinese here in Singapore and around the world celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival eating mooncakes amid candle-lit lanterns.
Children’s Day is a school holiday for primary school children. For secondary school students, it is a normal workday at school.
I remember one Children’s Day when I was in secondary one way back in the early seventies. It was my first year in a secondary school and I was waiting expectantly for my Children’s Day gift – in the form of biscuits packed in a polythene bag – as well as for the announcement of a two-hour school session. The biscuits never came and afternoon school dragged on that day till 6.30pm.
Boy, was I disappointed. From that day on, I realised I was a child no more. It was a rude awakening for me then. Yes! It’s great to be young again! But, the sad truth is – we can’t turn back the clock. Time is ticking against us mere mortals. What we have left are fond memories of that bygone period in our lives.
But, for the children of today, this is their hour – to enjoy a day away from school as well as the blessed sanctity of an innocent childhood.
Happy Children’s Day!
Recent Comments