Quizzes of Yesterday

The other day, while waiting for our food to arrive, son Joe popped this question out of the blue; “Can you name all the 50 states of the USA?”

To our credit, Pak Abu and I managed to name 34. We were mighty pleased with ourselves for remembering, even as we fell 16 short of the full number. Prodded further, we could even manage some of the better known capital cities as well.

On the other hand, go ask any American high school or even college student to name the states and federal territories of Malaysia, and the likelihood of him responding with “Where the fook is Malaysia?” is probably greater than getting the right answer.

I read somewhere that Americans in general are very inward-looking. They have this notion that the United States is the centre of the universe, and that the world revolves around them.

As such, they do not feel the need to breach any learning boundaries to learn how the likes of us, existing here in the fringes of their civilisation, live.

It does seem to me that had it not been for the protracted wars they got themselves involved in, the Yanks would never have be able to differentiate between Asia and Arabia.

The Vietnam War had helped open their eyes to Southeast Asia (and some, their loins to the goodtime girls and boys of Bangkok/ Phuket/ Pattaya), whilst the Iran and Iraq Wars had enabled them to spell Mesopotamia and Euphrates correctly (if at all).

If you notice the derision in my tone, rest assured it is very much intended. There is no love lost between USA and yours truly. But enough of 'Big Brother'.

In our household, quizzes were part and parcel of our daily existence when the kids were growing up. It became a mark of honour for them to be able to collect as many points as possible for answering correctly.

How we transversed the world those days playing the game of geography, naming countries and their respective capitals and locating them on the map.

The kids became adept at identifying the highest peaks and longest rivers, biggest lakes and deepest oceans, the seven wonders ancient and modern, the continents and the deserts.

From geography, the quizzes would move to historical events, and notable figures and their respective achievements, from Abe Lincoln to Churchill to Gandhi, From Darwin to Edison to Bell, and everyone would be toppling over each other to come up with the correct answers.

And then there were those spelling bees; impromptu episodes that usually evolved from sibling squabbles which would require Mom as the referee-cum-arbitrator. Because of these games, our long car trips were never boring.

The stress, however, was on me, to be able to provide the right answers at the drop of a hat. THAT was tough, so I always came armed with the necessary books for reference; this was, after all, during those pre-internet days.

The thirst for general knowledge has never been quenched for me; I have always wanted to know more of everything, no matter how trivial (maybe it was the kaypoh gene in me).

When I began servicing the Tourism Authority of Thailand in 1992 (here), the first thing that I did was make a list of all 76 provinces in Thailand.

At that time, I had yet to learn Thai, so it was a real tongue-twisting effort to pronounce, let alone memorise, them.

The day when I could reel off all 76 names, plus the 20 names of Bangkok, and identify them all on the Thai map, was a day to remember.

To all and sundry, it was probably nothing much to shout about, but I felt a small measure of achievement and that was good enough for me.

My kids are no longer in school but old habits die hard. Sometimes, quizzes fly hard and fast when we get together (and Mom is still expected to be Puan Serba Tau...tough, eh).

The beautiful part is they still remember most of the answers after all these years. I wonder if, in the wake of the Internet and computer games, kids still play these simple yet highly educational games today ....