Thoughts of children

I was going through my photos when I saw these. I wonder what happened to them. I do not know them... they are just children that I met on the way to somewhere...

Anyway, I was thinking, it must be good being children, where you can live in fantasies, believe that everything is possible. Not have to be worried about how others think of you or be wary of people's intentions when they are friendly. Hell, I am wary about being friendly to people, especially girls cause I am worried that they will be wary of my intentions, which in most cases, there are none. Sigh.....

I can't help but to notice that this age of innocence is getting shorter with each generation. I was alone waiting for a friend in Ang Mo Kio MacDonald one day and this group of primary school students (estimated age is 9 or 10) walked in. I overheard their conversation (non-intentional) and I was quite affected by it. It went something like:

Child 1: "My dad is picking me up later."
Child 2: "What car does your father drive?"
Child 1: "Umm... I think it's a Honda..."
Child 2: "So lousy! (laughs) My dad owns a BMW..."

and child 2 went on to describe how good the car is while the rest all listened in awe, using terms that I am sure I did not know when I was his age.

These children even talked about diamond rings and their prices. God! They are like walking catalogues for Soo Kee, Lee Hwa and such. They were trying to outdo each other by saying what type of diamonds rings they will get for their weddings. I am sure they will make very good promoters in any one of such retail shops.

I am disturbed by their conversation. At their age, they are already so into the materialistic mentality of our modern society. I wonder how they will grow up to be. I wonder what they talk about at home with their parents. I wonder if they are representative of the rest of their generation.

I hope not. Children should enjoy their childhood. Our educational system has reduced most children's childhood by a fair bit, the situation would be worse if they start comparing material stuff. Don't get me wrong, having dreams are good, but it worries me when dreams of our future generations are based on material gains. If this phenomenon continues, I wonder if the children in the future are capable of smiling like this....