Birthday Present

The Watch - My Birthday Present
By Gary Goh

Looking at the people around me, I've noticed that not all people have a watch on their wrist. Statistically, only 30% of my friends wear a watch. And so I wondered, how are you supposed to tell the time when you don't even have a watch.

I remembered receiving my first watch on my fifth birthday. Ever since then, I had my watch on most of the time during the day, especially when I'm out of my house. I didn't need my watch when I'm home because we have clocks all over the house, at least one in each room.

I can't remember how many watches I've had up until now. Well, at the very least I know that the one I'm wearing right now is a Casio G-Shock. This particular watch has served me well for the past five years.

Back when I was little kid, my dad made it a must for me to wear my watch, especially when I'm at school. Back then, I'm sure that only 2 or 3 of us had a watch. The other kids would envy us, and my peers would want to have one as an accessory.

Soon, few others had a watch of their own. However, for most of them, the watch was only a desire they had yearned for. Most failed to use them as the tool to tell the time.

I was glad that my dad instilled the value of time and punctuality in me. If only the rest could keep up with time and try their best to be punctual, with or without the aid of a watch.