The other day, while we were in Mirdiff City Centre shopping mall, we walked past a huge toy store... somewhat like Toys R Us.. only, they had alot more toys on display for children to play freely.. so it was also like an amusement park! ;)Anyway, Ace got very excited when he saw this balloon house/playground. It is the type of playground where everything is supported by this really powerful fan blowing wind constantly into the structure.. so everything in side the "house" is soft and therefore considered SAFE...
Ace immediately took off his shoes to join the fun and me and Max just stood there and watched the children play.
After observing the children for 30 seconds, I am suddenly aware that this house is totally not safe at all. You see, this type of thing is a toy.. not for industrial use.. so at any one time, I think it can only take at best 5-6 kids but there were 7 or 8 kids running around in the house... on top of that, there is a very stupid helper, who in her bid to safeguard her little mistress, sat right inside the house.. harlow... you are 25, not 5 leh.. and she is like my size..
As a result of the above mentioned, the house kept crumbling and looking as it was going to crumble and smother the children any moment.
I noted with interest that the children just don't care! Neither do the parents, they continue to do their own thing and just watch.. they never stop their children.. or ask them to leave.. they just let the children do what they like and the owner of the silly helper also never stop the silly helper.. but somehow.. when the house is about the crumble, everyone inside playing will zat lat for a while and then when the house is fat and "strong" again, the little monkeys start all over again and cause it to crumble again and this thing just happens in a cycle...
I feel that if this happened in Singapore, by this time, 2 pairs of parents will pull their children away.. another two pairs will be looking for the store clerk to complain to them about how dangerous this arrangement is and why there are no signs to indicate no adults allowed and no more than 5 children allowed... another two pairs will be scolding their children there... wahahahaha...
Secondly, me and Max noted that the children there are buay kia si one lor! You know how kids in Singapore generally wait for their turn and even the most rowdy of the lot just maybe skip turns right? They still generally slide down the slide....
The children here are different one lor! No one waits for their turn.. whoever gets there first gets to slide down first.. even if you are there first and I squeeze past you.. too bad for you lor... And they very hiong one.. they dun slide down properly on their bum one.. they toh ba lek upside down come down with their heads first.. they tumble down with their legs and hands all over the place... and if you get in their way and they hit you, too bad!
So Ace was mostly stunned... he took view of the situation and he approached the house by trying to climb up the slide because it looked less crowded there.. and afterward, he just keep hanging around the places that didn't have much people....
Max said that this is a test for Ace.. we observed him and decided to see what he will be up to... and after about 10 minutes, he finally got it and started to jostle for the slide too...
Max asked me if Ace will be a different little boy when he goes back. I told him this is a one off.. he may not meet children like that in school. Anyway, Max thinks tat allowing your kid to play in this sort of environment is also a test for a typical singaporean parent who is always 2 steps away and asking their kid to be careful, dun fall down... always ready to pull them away from danger.... hahaha..
I guess we passed the test..
PS: After a while, we got bored and wanted to walk around on our own and seeing that no one helped him jaga his shoes now, Ace came and hid his shoes behind this huge stack of toys and continued to jump up and down in the playground.... STILL typical kiaseee Singaporean.. wahahahaha..
PPS: After observing the people here for a while, I feel that the children here (especially the arabic ones) are very rude. Even the rudest kid I have met when i was in sgp is not as rude as the normal children just walking about in the malls... When they want to get past you, they shove you out of the way.. even for the older children who can talk and should know better manners.. and boys are especially rude.. I wonder if it is because they are fed the info that they are all amighty and more important than girls....
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