15 Things Only S’porean 90s Kids Will Remember From Their School Days
Going to school back in the 90s wasn’t about having the latest iPhone or MacBook. There was a time when kids played in sand-filled playgrounds and depended on school bookshops for affordable novels and comic books.
If you grew up in Singapore as a 90’s kid, then you’ll remember how much fun we had in school even without phones and social media. We were born in a time where we got to witness the evolution of technology and the proliferation of the Internet – which is pretty damn cool, if you ask me.
The 90s brought us lots of fond memories. Here are several things you’ll remember about school as a 90s kid!
1. OHP
Remember when every class had leadership roles for everyone? Class Monitors, Group Leaders for different subjects and the most important role of all – AVA Monitors. They were always responsible for the set up of the OHP Projectors.
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Don’t forget the shadow puppet shows we’d always perform using the OHP.
Cheap thrills ah they say.
2. Morning Silent Readings
Remember dragging your feet to school at 6:30am begrudgingly to sit in the parade square for morning assemblies?
We used to call it “Silent Reading” and your teachers would walk down the row to inspect the books you brought to school. We’d read everything from The Bookworm Club and Enid Blyton to True Singapore Ghost Stories and Mr Midnight.
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You know you’re one of those cool kids if you had this.
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Secret compartments, in-built sharpeners and some even had compasses.
4. Country Eraser
You could get these country erasers for 10 – 20 cents from your school bookshop!
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We used to keep ourselves entertained by flipping our erasers and celebrating mini victories whenever we won because that meant you could keep your opponent’s erasers.
We used to staple our erasers as well and transform it into a mini gasing. Just remember not to get caught by your teachers during lessons.
5. Corporal Punishment
Caning is also used as a form of corporal punishment and disciplinary measure in primary and secondary schools.
Remember public canings? Oh they were the worst.
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If you see your discipline master with rolled up sleeves with a cane in his hand up on stage, you know things are about to go down.
6. Floppy Disk
Before thumb drives, we had floppy disks.
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Can you remember the smell of these things? Remember the sounds the computer made when it was reading the disks?
We used to carry stacks of these for IT classes or to simply store pictures in them.
7. Phone Cards
Instead of carrying coins around, your mom would get you a phone card with a certain amount of money in it instead.
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We’d rush to the nearest phone booth just to call them during recess.
“Ma, today got remedial at 1:30pm.”
“Until what time, later I fetch you.”
“Okay ma, I need to go oledi. Bye bye.”
8. Kiwi Shoe Whitener
Weekends were always reserved for cleaning your shoes.
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Remember spending a whole hour scrubbing your shoes, air drying them, using the kiwi shoe whitener and drying them again?
If you come to school with dirty shoes, be prepared for after school detention.
9. Young Scientist Badges
You know you’re a true Young Scientist Master if you collected these badges.
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Long before computer games came up with the achievement unlocking systems, we grew bean sprouts, ran around collecting leaves and did many other things to earn these young scientist badges.
Remember pinning these badges on your uniform collars just to show it off to your other classmates?
10. Dental Care
Every kid in primary school used to get a free toothbrush and container from the school dentist. We used to line up outside the dentist in two rows while the dentist would teach us how to brush our teeth the proper way.
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“Okay remember, don’t forget to brush your gums also. Up and down 5 times.”
11. Collecting Stickers
Sticker books was the in thing then.
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Autograph books were exchanged and classmates you like would take a turn to write in your book, decorating it with poems. There was even a section where friends were ranked. Ouch.
We only used sparkly gel pens to write in it because we were hella fancy.
13. Velcro Wallets with Silicone Coil Chains
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This was the noisiest thing to ever exist.
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These chains came not only in block colours but also in neon rainbow colours. They were the top selling item in almost every Primary School bookshop.
If you are a boy, you were considered cool if you had one of these hooked on your school shorts’ belt loops. I remember dodging many Spider-Man and Billabong Velcro wallets when sweaty boys run around during recess.
14. Trolley Bags
They see me rollin’, they hatin’.
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The lucky kids who owned trolley bags soon realised that dragging their new bags up the stairs was much more troublesome than it looked.
But the thrill of owning one made up for that.
You’re basically Regina George in Mean Girls.“I have the coolest school bag now. Everyone else is irrelevant.”
15. MSN Messenger
Before we had WhatsApp or Facebook messenger, we all had MSN accounts.
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I’m sure all the 90s kids would sigh with nostalgia at this. We’d rush home after school and made promises to our friends to go “online” at a certain time.
Everyone had to have some kind of status message (mostly emo lyrics) else they weren’t cool.
Rawr means I<3 you XD
What are some other fond memories you remember from school?
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(Header Image Source: Pinterest , Wikipedia ,
12 Irresistible Snacks You Would Have Loved As A 90s Kid!
90s kids had it good: sure we didn’t have iPads to pass the time, but when it came to food, our childhoods were coloured with cheap snacks shared at the canteen table or playground during recess – or even in class (remember fake-coughing just so you could chew on your White Rabbit sweet?).
To commemorate those golden years, we’ve compiled a list of 12 nostalgic snacks you’d have loved if you’re a 90s kid.
1. Ice Pops
What’s a 90s snacks list without this treat? Eating them frozen on a sweltering afternoon was the perfect after-school treat. That while watching any show on Kids Central. Yes, we haven’t forgotten our beloved OKTO of yesteryear.
2. Mamee Monster
This was one of the most fun snacks to eat: salty, crunchy, and made to resemble instant noodles. Crushing it up was half the fun.
3. Wang Wang
It’s no surprise we were all fascinated to some degree by the mysteriously edible, plastic-like coating that encased our beloved, chewy White Rabbit sweet.
5. Fancy Gem Biscuits
These were fancy treats, only rewarded after we’d completed an assignment – and, while most kids probably adored the colourful gems of sugar that topped each biscuit, I would pick them off because they were too sweet for my liking.
6. Haw Flakes
Remember putting as many potato rings as you could on your fingers, and then licking your fingers when you were done eating them? Your childhood would not have been complete without this after-school snack.
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There was something about these animal-shaped, salted snacks that made them so addictive. Maybe it was the animals printed on each cracker… or maybe it was just the MSG.
9. Hacks
I highly doubt the fact that Pink Dolphin was a ‘vitamin drink’ lent it extra street cred. It was, quite easily, the drink to be seen with. It also tasted quite wonderful – like magic liquid in the mouth.
If you’re craving for some of these snacks right this minute, it isn’t too late – hit up Sheng Siong supermarket or mama shops (convenience store) for a quick fix! You’re most welcome!
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If you are one of those who shake your head in disapproval when you see parents letting their children entertain themselves with iPad and iPhones, you’d also probably reminisce about your fun-filled, iPad-less childhood and say “Aiyo, kids these days.” The 90s generation is probably the coolest generation (IMO as a 90s kid and I’m sure you would agree if you are one). We spent our childhood days equally running outdoors playing catching and playing on our gameboys which means we had the best of both worlds. Plus, we got to witness the growth of technology. Those were the days where almost everyone had a Beyblade, even girls! And I remember the ripoffs were sold everywhere, so there was no excuse not to have one. This spinning top toy was popularized by the Beyblade anime series and there were mini arenas for competitions as well. One does not say no to an impromptu Beyblade Showdown. I remember I used to get so depressed when my Tamagotchi pet died, then I would start blaming myself for not caring for it enough. Since my parents did not allow me to get a puppy when I was younger, my Tamagotchi was basically my baby. It sure did teach us a bit about responsibility. This was one of the coolest toys you could have then! With their sophisticated yet super cool race tracks, we could compete each other and our eyes would be glued to our cars the whole time! We don’t know about you, but Tamiya cars were our very first cars. We remembered spending countless of hours making our cars from the kits. Then, testing and playing those cars at the void deck or tamiya tracks in the neighbourhood. There was also the regular maintenance (lubricating) and upgrading of car parts. We surely missed those days, including those when we were shouted at for playing at home, and spoiling all the furniture legs when our tamiya cars crashed into them! Oh boy, don’t we all love playing the Gameboy? Seriously though, this was practically the iPad of our generation with so many games we can choose from with the different game cartridges. Needless to say, Pokemon, Tetris and Super Mario were our all-time favorites! This is a heart-stopping game that requires much strategic planning through careful situation analysis. We all remember that moment when the tower is unstable and it’s gonna be our turn next and we nervous as hell. How? I could barely play with the yoyo properly. [caption id="attachment_3323" align="alignnone" width="480"] Gotta catch ’em all! Twisting our bodies in different ways we never knew could be twisted and then screaming at the gamemaster to hurry up. If you remember playing all these, I’m sure there is this wave of nostalgia that you would have felt after reading this article. There were so many simple games that used to entertain us for hours and hours and nope, none of it ever revolved around an iPad, which shows that fun can come in all forms with just a bit of imagination. Let us know in the comments if we missed anything! 🙂12 Wildly Popular Toys Only 90s Kids Will Remember Playing With
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2. Tamagotchi
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4. Gameboy
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11. Pokemon Cards
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