June 30, 2008

7:40 PM


Childhood

It was my last day in Japan. There was still some time before the bus to the airport arrived, so me and my mum went walking around Ginza. We ended up at some eight-storey toy shop. I wouldn't exactly call it huge, or big at all, but at least it was tall. Anyway, while looking at the random stuff they had, I came across some puzzle they had on display. Its shaped like a big piece of chocolate, and it was separated into many pieces. The objective was to fit all the pieces back together to form the big rectangle of chocolate.

I fiddled around with it for a few seconds, then gave up and left it there for someone else to play. As I was walking off, the small kid went straight to the puzzle. The situation seemed interesting, so I hung around a bit to watch.

While attempting to fit the pieces, he was grabbing one piece at a time, trying to fit it in... nope? Then he dumps the piece and tries another, all at lightning speed. Jeez, like.. whats the rush in the first place? People normally take their time enjoying puzzles, while this kid goes berserk on it.

In about half a minute, he completed it. With that sense of accomplishment, he said, in a not particularly loud, though hardly soft voice, "dekita!", which means in english, "I did it!". He turned around and looked at me with these wide, excited, accomplished eyes. It was then that I had this sudden realisation, sadness and pity for the kid. Those eyes were just yelling, "Haha, I did it! Praise me!".

Often in Japan, rich parents send their kids to countless classes, tuitions, and cram schools, teaching them how to calculate the product of two 20 digit numbers, how to solve puzzles in seconds, how to play a full repertoire of music at age 4, and so on. I mean, its great right? Who wouldn't want their kids to be number one?

Hmmm, do they ask their kids what they THEMSELVES want? "Daddy daddy, I wanna be the world's greatest human calculator!" Yeah, right.

"Mummy, can I go out to play with my friends today?"
"I'm sorry honey, you have your superduperultrafreakyhypermegacombo class today, remember? Class is more important. You can play with your friends another day."

Mmmm.. take away their childhood. What the use of having a few blurry memories of playing around, anyway? Its not going to help them survive when they become adults. Lets just start pumping info into their heads from day one. That way, they'll grow up nicely, get a prestigious degree, get a good paying job, and live happy.

What happens when you pump something too full? Pump balloon.. pump balloon.. pump balloon.. POP!!! 'Man goes on a stabbing spree in Shibuya'.

Kids are kids. Let them live like kids. The only time when a person is truly free in the space of their whole lifetime.

Pick up girlfriends with, "Hey, I can recite Pi to a million digits!".. nope. =|
Well, at least they'd be able to get high school girls for 500,000 yen a pop. If they live to see that day, anyway.