Reflecting on lives past | Bangkok Post: opinion

THINKBOX

This year, National Children's Day was not just about parents spending quality time with their offspring and Thai society paying attention to the younger generation, the so-called "future of the nation". No, on Saturday a huge number of grown-ups also took the time to reminisce about their own childhood.It was another viral phenomenon on the internet. To mark the occasion, there was a widespread practice of people, celebrities included, of course, posting cute and often funny portraits from their school days on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social networking sites. Some even juxtaposed their old pictures with those of their little ones, revealing the striking similarities that attracted loads of "likes" and admiring comments.

Too bad I was away from home and my age-old photo albums; otherwise I would have joined the fun fad. A few familiar pictures did pop up in my mind though. Some are in black and white, while some are in faded colour. But in each and every one of them I was wearing the crew cut hairstyle, which according to a recent announcement from the Ministry of Education is no longer compulsory for students.

Like the world around me, a lot has changed about myself over the past decades. It's not just the hair length or colour, which is now not 100% black. Although the fleck below my left eye remains at the same spot, the adult version of the rest of my face looks very different. I'm also lot taller and stronger, although not as agile.