I think I enjoyed my childhood more than kids of nowadays do. If you don't believe me , let me tell you how kids of my time passed their daily life . In those days , radio and television were not even heard of. Kids roamed wild plucking berries and chasing dragon-flies. The meadow I used to ramble stretched far and wide by the side of a river and was itself a paradise of wild flowers , shrubs , small evergreen plants and fruit bearing trees. At night I watched fireflies flickering here and there illuminating the dark nights outside. Nowadays ,with the bright electricity lights turning nights into days, we, glue to the television sets or computers, we don't even see fireflies any more. Or is it because there are no more fireflies to see? We passed our golden childhood playing many indoor and outdoor games from skipping rope , doll house to rounders. Then came the time when our parents sentus to school for education . In those days school pupils had to pay school- fees. Those who failed their examinations retained in the same class until they passed them. The subjects taught in schools were Chinese, Arithmetic, Social Studies, Art and Crafts and Singing. Schools began at eight 0 clock and ended at four 0 clock in the afternoon. So we had to bring our lunch box or 10 cents to buy food . In my old school called Kung Kau's School Menggatal , there was only one teacher and an assistant teacher for the whole school. We brought only one exercisebook called the she-pan to school. The she- pan could be written on and erased after every lesson. The teacher would guide the beginners to do some writing then moved on to year two , getting them to work out some simple Arithmetic. All this while , year three and four would be kept pre-occupied by learning a text by heart. Two activities the whole school could take part together under one teacher were singing and story telling. These were the subjects which the pupils enjoyed the most. As my school was a Catholic school, Religious Knowledge was taught as a lesson .Thus we chanted the prayers in Hakka and learnt by heart the Ten Commandments, who is God, heaven and hell and so on. Before Christmas the whole school would start making lanterns. A certain selected group would practise dancing , singing and drama for the end of the year school closing ceremony concert. During Christmas we decorated the church colourfully with the lanterns every pupil made. My brother always helped me with mine. During my adolencenes in St. John's School, Tuaran, many Catholic teachers and students joined the Region of Mary. I am not ashamed to admit that in those days I was keen in the church activities, because through activities such as prayer recital, singing hymns and songs, writing to pen friends , copying songs and autograph , I improved my English. I began writing to Anak Sabah, a student magazine then, when I was in Primary six . I got paid foraround six dollars per article. That was a lot of money then ! I owed that to Fr. V.D. Ghest who gaveme a lot of help towards that direction . Our other activities as students included goingto Sunday Mass, Novena , First Friday Mass ,besides the services for the big festivals such as Christmas , Good Friday and Easter. When I was in St. Joseph's School , Papar , for my lower secondary education , I too joined the Region of Mary . In those days the duty I enjoyed most was decorating the church . It was a chance for me to go out to the neighbouring houses , far and near , searching for fresh flowers . I didn't mind even though many a time I was the only one doing the whole job by myself. In St. Francis Convent , Jesselton , I received my upper secondary education . I was a boarder then. Memory there includes the scary walk through the lonely mission road to school and the few nights when Sr. E. Mary let us stay up late to listen to soft music . We also had talks, singing, poetry recital and beautiful novena nights to brighten our lives as boarders. In those days , the duty I was sent to do as a member of the Region of Mary, was visiting the old folk at the Prichard Valley Home. Those senior citizens really looked forward to have a chit-chat with us girls once a week. After my school life was over , I taught for a year as an untrained teacher in St. John's School , Tuaran . I joined the Catholic Youth Association which was very popular then . The said Association enabled youth to mingle through activities such as social dances , outings and meetings . We made friends readily , being young and gay . After that I went to college for Teacher Training course . Needless to say , there I had had the time of my life ! After I have got married , there was a time when I was busy raising up a family . I stopped all activities all together . When my kids gradually grew up , I resumed my Christian duty as a member of the Kudat Catholic Women League Association and have been a member since then. In all those years , I have been one term the president and many terms secretary and audit of the said association . As far back as my memory can stretch , there are so many important events to look back to . Among them , I have to mention the Blessing of St. Peter's new Church , Rev. Fr. de Wit Memorial Hall and St. Peter's Kinder Garden when we women took part in dancing and singing concert, preparing food and flower arrangement for the occasions. Other activities include the sweeping of the church,taking part in the Mass organisation as commentators, readers and collectors , Sunday school teachers,organizing Christmas children party and Sunday sale. God means to enrich my life with many church activities although they are on and off. Through Christian activities our kids, youth and adults lead a good , God fearing Christian life . A pure mind will lead to a pure heart. Thus schools, churches and societies play an important role in moulding our kids and youth into healthy-minded adults. So we can look back with a smile and say, " I was quite a great kid in my time! "