On childhood lessons. ttj told me his first important lesson in life took place when he was 2 years old. Then, he owned a toy cement mixer truck where the cement mixer bit is transparent and filled with plastic blocks. He broke it accidentally and discovered to his horror that it couldn't be fixed... things that break may not mend. It was his first brush with mortality.

Being the younger child, my whims were often indulged. When we were very young, my brother and I both wanted to own the same issue of a comic and we didn't want to share. My dad had no choice but to buy 2 copies of the same comic. I then had a false expectation that I could have everything my way. Then I was always given the drumstick as the choice meat while eating chicken. However, at a family meal at my cousin's place, my mum told me there was only one drumstick available during the meal and that it wouldn't be mine. And so this was my first important lesson... I learnt not to ask for the drumstick again, and that I couldn't always have everything my way.

Strange how small events in our youth shape us.