As I was passing...

That’s the title of the book that I am currently reading. I borrowed it from the library. It is a re-published collection of amusing anecdotes on the Malaysian way of life in the 1970s. A nice, light and easy reading material, a far cry from the mystery book that I always read. * smile* It came in 2 volumes, but I only managed to find one of them.

These anecdotes were written by Adibah Amin, a celebrated columnist for the New Strait Times in the 70s. “As I Was Passing” was the name of her column. She wrote under the pseudonym, Sri Delima ('the glow of the ruby').

I enjoy reading these stories, stories before my time. Like she said, “You may be amused by the contrast between the lifestyles then and now…yet, you may find surprising similarities." True. Some things like the tuition fever, the generation gap, and peer group tyranny, boys and girls crushes pretty much remained the same despite the passage of time. * smile *

I found myself smiling at them. Some stories really brought back the memories. The autograph fever for instance. As I remembered, during my primary school days in the 80s, having an autograph is a must. Every girl in school has one. Me? No exception. I begged my dad to buy me one when my ‘gang’ had theirs. Tida mau ketinggalan bah sama kawan-kawan yang lain….hehe…

Sentence like “I have a pen, my pen is blue, I have a friend, my friend is you”, “Friendship Forever” or words like FRANCE, which stands for “Friendship Remains And Never Could End” are the favourite messages written in the autograph. Some autograph-ists were even kind enough to stick a photo on his/her page, be it a current photo, childhood photo, colour photo or black & white one…any photo will do. In extreme cases, some even cut-out their face from a group photo….haha…janji ada gambar mo ditampal dalam autograph kawan!

I have not finish my reading yet. But so far, I really enjoy “passing” through the byways of life with Adibah Nor..oppps..Adibah Amin.