‘The more survival skills an individual has that have been practiced physically and otherwise, the better odds they have for those skills coming to the forefront during a stressful emergency.’– Cody Lundin, American survival instructor.
Driving to work yesterday afternoon was a breeze. There was no traffic jam because the school holidays for primary schools had just begun.
A friend and a mother of one told me that the one-month holidays would end on March 20.
If there was no one at home to look after her 11-year-old daughter, she told me she would be bringing the girl to work. Just to put her own mind at ease.
While some parents are now happy they do not have to wake up very early to send their kids to school, those who are working are worried about leaving their children alone and untended at home. They fear they may wander around, mix with the wrong company and get into mischief.
One of my sister’s friends in Johor decided to take a week off from work just to send her three kids to her husband’s kampung in Kedah. I salute her for putting her children first in her life.
“Her kids love going back to the kampung,” my sister told me over the phone. “With her off, that means we are short of one staff at our restaurant here.”
I wonder how many of today’s schoolchildren get to experience life in the kampung during their school holidays. How many get to play in the padi fields or catch fish in the rivers?
Those who come from richer families may get to tour many foreign places during their holidays but they may never get the chance to visit the places where their parents played when they were young or places where they grew up.
If they cannot bring their kids back to the kampung or towns where they grew up, parents, I think, should bring their children on excursions to nearby retreats to get them acquainted with Mother Nature.
Teach them some basic survival skills like building a fire, grilling fish or meat, boiling water and foraging for food, fishing and even building a shelter.
Some of today’s youth are totally clueless when it comes to basic survival skills because they are pampered by their parents and spend most of their time playing video games.
In my neighbourhood, I never see youth pulling out weeds from overgrown gardens. Instead of growing food for the table, some of the house owners, who are mostly old, prefer to cover their gardens with zinc sheets all year round.
I think it is good for boys to join scouting in school. Besides preparing youth to be tomorrow’s leaders, scouting helps young people to appreciate the outdoors and acquire some survival skills.
Do you know former Boy Scouts are handy to have around the house?
Take for instance, my nephew, Lai, a former Boy Scout. There is nothing he cannot do. Ask him to repair the water pipes and it is done in the wink of an eye.
Ask him to check why the washing machine is not functioning. After he looks at it, he goes out to look for a spare part and soon, the washing machine is as good as new.
Ask him to build trellis for my garden and again, they are ready in a jiffy.
My son did not take up scouting when he was in school. Maybe that is why he is quite hopeless in the garden. Whenever I ask him to help me trim the branches, he complains there are too many mosquitoes in the garden.
But when I go to the garden, I am surprised the mosquitoes do not trouble me. I suspect the mosquitoes there only bite those they are not familiar with.
However, I must give credit to my son for being quite handy in the house. He can fix flickering lights and clean the fans. He can also grease the gate. Maybe he learnt to do these things in the “Kemahiran Hidup” (Life Skills) classes he attended in school.
My two nieces also had “Kemahiran Hidup” lessons in school but it seemed they did not learn anything. They have zero life skills in the house. Was it their fault or was it their teachers’ faults for not teaching them well and ensuring that they mastered the necessary life skills?
I admire some women whose husbands can fix anything in the house and in the garden. At least, they don’t have to hunt around for someone when something breaks down in the house or when the trees in the gardens need to be trimmed. Getting outsiders to do the jobs can be quite expensive.
When I was in school, there were no “Kemahiran Hidup” lessons and no Girl Scouts Club to join. I did not realise what I missed until now, decades later.
My friends, do encourage your children or grandchildren or any kids you know to take their “Kemahiran Hidup” lessons in school seriously and to join the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts if they have the chance to do so.
Years later, when they are much older, they will definitely be thankful for the survival and life skills they have learnt.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
