Let the Care Bears countdown begin.....5......4......3.......2.......1 !

I am a child of the eighties. That is what I prefer to be called. This section is specially dedicated to all those who have gone through what I did. We are the children of the 80s. "Generation X" is a myth created by some over-40 writer trying to figure out why people wear flannel in the summer.

We sang "Beat It" & "Billy Jean"........and thought "We Are The World" was the best song in the universe. We didn't understand all the fuss about Madonna's iron tits. Cyndi Lauper and Boy George were the weirdest looking people around. Tiffany was every boy's dream girl and Tommy Page was the guy every girl wanted to marry.......until New Kids on the Block. Johnny Hates Jazz "I Don't Want To Be A Hero" was the song on everybody's lips and Freddie Mercury wasn't just a singer in Queen but Flash Gordon himself.

We had the original boybands in A-Ha & NKOTB. Guns & Roses and Metallica were the ultimate rock bands. You could hear "November Rain" & "Enter Sandman" in every school kid's walkman.........we didn't have discman/md back then. Then there was the 80s Glam Rock........Warrant, Reo Speedwagon, Nazareth......and the "melayu's" Jiwangz Karatz.

I know you guys got Siti Nurhaliza (fuyoo!), Slam, Spin, Spring, Scoin, Stoink, Selenge, etc.....but nothing....and i repeat, NOTHING beats 80s Jiwangz Karatz......Francisca Peters, Ella, Wings, Search, BumiPutra Rockers, Blackrose, Gersang....i can go on and on you know.....Helter Skelter, Junction, Febians.....really i can......Dinamik, Sweet Charity, Lovehunters......but I think I'll stop here.

I can't help but feel sorry for kids today. Just look at the pathetic cartoons and tv series they have to watch. Remember that McGyver guy.....or those elite bunch of army rejects, The A-Team ? They were THE coolest. Kids now watch Stargate & Star Trek but they're nothing compared to Battlestar Galactica and V. That was how we visualized the future and we watched them because they looked great though we didn't understand the storylines. We watched the Love Boat cause all the adults were watching it and the shiny black talking car in Knight Rider was the car we wanted to own when we grew up and the helicopter in Airwolf couldn't be destroyed except for a hole the size of a bullet. They have Roswell now but we've got The Misfits of Science who were the coolest freaks on tv.

Star Wars and Back to the Future were our favourite movies. We thought that Ultraman was amazing though we could see the zippers on the back of the monsters. King Kong was the scariest movie we saw. Missing Sesame Street and The Electric Company was a mortal sin and we would shout at the top of our voices when the Count started hunting his bats or when Big Bird started singing the alphabet. We blushed and became uncomfortable at any kiss on the TV screen. John Travolta was King on Saturday Night Fever and all that we remember of Superman was that he could fly.

Then there were the cartoons !!!!! The Visionaries, Centurions, G.I. Joe !!! But Mask & He-Man were the boys' favourites and if we did not own at least a dozen of the action figures, we were incomplete persons (and our parents were evil). Our imaginations were limitless: headquarters was a cave under the dining table and the kitchen sink was the enemy's hideout. We memorized by heart all the verses in The Visionaries and knew which robots belonged to the Autobots and which belonged to the Decepticons, not to mention knowing the names of ALL the robots in Transformers. Barbie and Smurfette was the ideal girl.

Girls' favourites were Strawberry Shortcake and Jem. The Carebear Countdown was their inspiration and they knew what sort of colours and stuff would fly out of their bellies when they stood in a row. Gargamel was like a particular uncle they knew. They aspired to become Barbie when they grew up, to live a big pink houses, own plastic furniture, and thought that Ken was the hunkiest guy around. Teddy bears promised that they would stay with us forever and never run away. (For the death of us boys, we would never admit that we watch 'girlie' cartoons as well).

The 80s was a time when books were read and reread to death. We've all loved Enid Blyton's books or The Hardy Boys. We felt angry when Elizabeth (The Naughtiest Girl in School) was wrongly accused of something she didn't do and we would sit in the toilet lost in The Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair for hours on end until mum demanded we come out. We prided ourselves in having read all the books printed on the back of the bright blue hard covers and to our parents' dismay, we had to own every single one of them. And we could not, for our lives, understand why the adults read books with no pictures in them.

Sleeping over at a friend's place was the event of the month. A cup of milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies were a complete meal and a proper diet. Hunting for spiders (and anything else that moved) in the bushes was adventure in its own right. Your friend's friend was your friend, your friend's enemy was your enemy, your enemy's friend was your enemy, and your enemy's enemy was your friend. We never beat the Rubik's Cube and so if anyone who could complete it was god. Well, we still are amazed.

We couldn't understand why our older brothers were so crazy over fast cars and other girls and why our older sisters wore perfume and make-up. The 80s. A time when friendships were made in the morning, broken in the afternoon, and remade in the evening. A time when having the same interests and hobbies qualified you as a friend. A time when most of our toys didn't have to have electricity running through them to keep us amused.

We actually had fun when we were young...... the "golis"..... teng²..... hopscotch..... 5-stone. Do you see kids play those games now ? No, they just sit in front of their pc or 29-inch tv banging their keyboards or sega saturn joystick. And damn, the playgrounds don't even have sand now !!! They do not have the joy of blowing bubble gums (especially those flavoured ones!).....or playing soccer under the block with those $1.20-coloured plastic balls and have the exciting adventure of being chased away by the police !

No more Sugus, Tora or Ding Dong. No more 20-cent ice sticks which you could literally break into 2 and share with your best friend. Bus fare was only 30-cents.....movie tickets were a mere $4.50......and Long John's Silver at Parkway Parade gave away free pirate hats when you buy a meal !

We grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too. The Bookworm gang would come to your school and try to psycho everyone to subscribe and be a member.

Playing catching was the IN thing and twist was the magic word. We grew up with Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John in our textbooks..... and for the malays....... Zaki dan Tini (I just had to add this one in !). Double Happiness & BM 2000 were the most popular school shoes.......until Pallas and Paichi took over. Internet was an alien word and pagers were like the coolest thing on the planet.

If anything was wrong in the 80s, we cared not for we lived for that day and that day only. But most importantly for us 80s children, it was a magical era, where the world seemed to hang in a suspended state of transition........a time when the people we met and the friends we made are the ones who will stay with us till their kingdom comes. I wish I could turn back the clock.......

......cherish the memories you've got......it'll last you a life time.