This old man he plays one...

Chewing gum is really gross
Chewing gum I hate the most - Willy Wonka

Reading up on Roald Dahl is simply inspiring. I think I have a new (dead) idol.

Like a sugar rush to the head, a lot of childhood memories come flooding back. It was 1990 and at 10 years old, I was at the peak of my childhood. You know, wise enough to know things but still, charmingly innocent. I was the athlete, the musician, the *ahem* cultured dancer, the perfect Primary 4 pupil. But then it all got to my head and my studies went downhill but ah, the social life was soaring.



Anyway,

It was that year I was introduced to the magic of Roald Dahl, thanks to Mrs Tan Ah Moi. It was a natural progress from reading Dr. Seuss and Enid Blyton. First, it started with The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and then Mrs Tan recommended a harder read of Boy and Going Solo. But thanks to my younger brother (who used to read), I laid my hands on Danny the Champion of the World. This is the story I’ve read countless of time. In fact, this is my most frequently read book ever.


The story that made me enjoy eating birds. Hah!

Mrs Tan made us write to Roald Dahl that year. It was after our final exam period. Or was it slightly before the exams? I cant remember. I remember I wrote how happy I was reading his books and how he was just like my grandma who passed away in June that year. If I am not wrong, I asked him how he got his inspiration and when could he come to Singapore. I cant remember if the letter was sent to him at all by Mrs Tan or not. I know there wasn’t any reply. A few months later, Roald Dahl passed away.

Of course I was quite sad. After reading all his books I could find (the ones that a child could handle), I figured it was time I moved on. So I searched for the next writer…going through a lot phases along the way – Louisa May Alcott (Little Women), L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gable), Charles Dickens (or “Darles Chickens” as my brother used to call him) (Oliver Twist), Johanna Spyri (Heidi) and many more. As you can see, I am a great fan of classics. After searching for quite a while, I found a replacement. The name is Samuel Clemens.




Or Mark Twain.

And The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn continues to be my best novel ever.

Mentioning which…I think I should read it again.

I seem to have an obsession with dead old man. Colonel Sanders might be one, too.

Oh well.

P/S: I wrote a letter to the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew when I was 9, wishing him a happy birthday. I addressed it to the Istana. I didn’t get any reply. That built up my tolerance for rejection.

Haha. Loser.

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