Back-to-school!

It’s that time of year again, when malls are overflowing with children screaming that this year power-puff girls/astro-man are out of fashion and don’t the department stores have “desperate housewives” schoolbags? I’m not talking about gifts! I mean back-to-school shopping.

I have a younger, school-going brother, so trust me, I know how passionate children get about their school kits. My mom often remarks that in her day, having a schoolbag and not having to share (BATA brand) school shoes with siblings were already dreams come true. Not that I identify with that thought, but I do miss back-to-school shopping, yet I never wanted a desperate housewives schoolbag!

I loved going back to school, it meant going to the uniform store and trying on new sets of uniforms, the fondness for the smell of new clothes has not left me to this day. It was a moment in my life when I genuinely wanted to know that my dress size had increased and I was taller! The elderly Chinese lady in the yang-tze-kiang uniform shop would look me up and down and always pick out the correct size for me to try! Despite all the horrible things I thought about my uniform the rest of the year (shapeless, boring, etc), that one day, in the sparkling white shirt and rich navy pinafore, I loved my uniform.

Uniforms were followed by wrapping paper for books, stationery, a new bag for school, a lunch box and matching water bottle! The thrill I got while buying all this and then prohibiting myself from using it until the first day of school made me look forward intensely to school. There was something special about shopping for school, the thrill of wondering what your best friend is going to buy and how to pick things for yourself that you are the undoubted queen of waterbottles/schoolbags,etc.

The last stop on the big day was BATA. The term is still synonymous to me with school! Until a few years back, I was convinced that BATA was a local brand and only Singaporean children wore BATA shoes to school! Then I realised that many children from many different countries thought that BATA was solely theirs! What amazing branding!

The field is wider for schoolchildren these days, my brother’s main concern is whether Nike shoes are cool enough or should he buy (a third pair) of Adidas Climacools. Schools have since allowed track shoes to be worn and BATA shoes are no longer a must buy on the shopping list. When I was a kid the choices were limited to BATA with laces, or BATA with laces and a velcro strap.

I figure the magic of back-to-school shopping has changed, and I’ve become a relic, but hey, maybe it was more fun in “my time”. Our parents wanted the goods, we had them and so wanted them to have cute pictures, and the children who shop these days have dumped cute pictures in favour of cuter logos and heavier price tags. The magic I remember was not concerned with price, maybe the children of today understand things differently and their brand of magic can be bought.