Air Mail Par Avion ......

It seems not so long ago we only had two TV channels. Big bulky video tape players churning Indonesian movies the whole Kampong will turn up to watch. A video player then will set u back the price of top of the range slim light ultra portable notebook now. The days the Sony Walkman were the “iPods” with back pack full of tapes.

Those were the days where the main mode of communication were few pieces of paper we scribbled on and “zoomed” to the sender via Mr Postman. If you are lucky, it will reach its destination in a few days. If you are not, it may reach its destination via foreign lands or worse still it will just disappear.

Then, everyone composed, folds the papers, licked the seal and “smooched” the stamp onto the envelope. It was indeed an art to write a letter. The beauty of a handwritten message. The effort made you feel appreciated. More meaningful when the so truly madly deeply in love lover sprinkled some perfume on the pieces of papers. Joy on the face of the waiting lover reading with the intoxicating smell creating a truly romantic effect. Truly magical! Still fresh on the mind waiting for letters to arrive. The wait gave it the extra edge, made the adrenalin flowed with extra vigour. Kissing those pieces of paper.You can’t get that effect with text messaging nor with emails.

Life with its slower pace then, were more manageable. Now, with the crazed for everything instant, from instant noodle, instant coffee, instant messaging to instant response and even instant love, life seems to pass by like a lightning. One blink, you are left behind. Instant response on the Instant Messengers, Facebook, Twitters. Update your status on Facebook, the whole world instantly knows what a fool you are. Add to that, the myriads of comments you will get from the so called friends half of which you hardly meet.

As the world gets closer, as everyone gets more and more connected, I can’t help feeling we are getting less and less “personal”. Long gone is the personal touch. A conversation is no longer face to face. Now a poke means pressing a button. A smile is just a symbol on the screen. How I long for the Air Mail Par Avion days ......