CONNECTED CUCUs

Younger Malaysians are embracing IT as easily as my generation embraced the transistor radio. Adults have preconceptions and sometimes misconceptions about computers. They do not take computers as readily as today's kids. I guess, to these kids, computers are natural progression from handheld "game watches" which are actually abbreviated dedicated computers.
I still remember making "telephones" using milk cans and strings to talk to a friend about 10 yards away. Even though we could have shouted at each other, we used the "telephone" because it was more fun. About 20 odd years later, I got my first walkie-talkie set by mail. It was sealed by Jabatan Telekom pending the approval of a licence. That didn't stop me from experimenting and I could talk to my headmaster across the school compound in Kuala Brang. Now my grandchildren talk to their cousins across the sea using the Internet. In the photos above, Ilham( 7+), at my messy computer table was talking to Adam (10+) who was in Jakarta. They did it without any help from adults. Adam, being older knows more about computers than the rest of the clan. One night, while online with his Ki (Grandpa), he took delight in changing his sisters and himself green by fooling with the webcam's controls. Aisyah, on the other hand likes to send me "winks" found on MSN Messenger.
I am watching with interest how Najwa (5 next February), Naim (4 next July) and Ariff (2 next April) will discover and eventually use the computer. One thing I am certain - they will be better at it than my classmates (mostly over 61 this year).
Happy New Year everyone!