When I was a Teenager - the 60's

When I was a Teenager, life was beautiful. Although there were no newspapers, no tv, no internet, no kfc in the mid 60’s, it was fun. We had the radio and that was it. Music came from this bulky stuff with all its tubes and just one speaker and it was great entertainment.

I also remembered my iron horse, the bicycle. Cycling was a luxury, I had my bicycle, and it was branded Robin Hood. Many of my friends had their Raleigh which was a bit more expensive. At 40 Mdollars you could buy one. I cycled most of the time, couldn’t go far except to school and back, round the town and to the beach. Oh the beach was natural, surroundings were clean, Miri was a place of fresh air, people were simple, there was no karaoke but we had dancing parties in the club. There were 3 famous clubs in Miri, Gymkhana Club, Miri Recreation Club and Machinda Club (I guess it stood for Malays, Chinese, Dayak). Everyone knew everyone then. Friends were everywhere. I used to go and watch these adults doing their Waltzes, Tangos and Joget during the dance parties. The men's trousers were baggy and the ladies had make ups as thick as snow. Heheheh. The band was Jazz, a trumpet, a double bass, one guitar and the drummer. They played what we know now as the oldies. Anyone could go up to the mic and sing.

When I was thirsty, Kopi O was the drink. My mum would have that ready in a big pot, it was actually in a kettle. All we siblings would depend on this sweet Kopi O to quench our thirst. No packet drinks, no canned drinks, so you couldn't expect more. A piece of bread bun only costs 10 cents, there were no burgers to think of. Ice Kacang was 10 cents too. Kolok Mee 25 cents.

But the best part was still the radio. That was the wow then. It gave entertainment for everyone at night. There were not many channels to choose from, the famous was BBC (stands for Bristish Broadcasting Corporation). We couldn’t choose the channels at home because our Dad had monopoly of the big stuff everybody loved. He was our Guru in everything. He taught me play the guitar. In the following clip, I am bringing you back into my life with some radio music of the 60s.



I will be posting more about the good old days, just join me here.