The dearly departed summer holidays of Maltese 90s kids go to show the difference between 90s kids and those today.
We all remember the very well-known programme "Mini Bugz’ that was viewed by many during summer afternoons, with the theme song being sung along to every time the programme was watched: "Mini Bugz, Mini Bugz Mini Bugz, għoqodu ftit bilqegħda taqilbuhx”
Not all that long ago, kids didn’t spend days staring at their phones during their summer holidays. Many kids used to spend some of their free time riding their bicycle or scooter around their town or village, or spent their day at a playground. Some used to play traditional Maltese games such as "Il-Passju’ and "iz-Zunzana Iddur Iddur’, and others tested the precision of their aim at "BoÄ‹Ä‹i’. Most of these activities are being forgotten and instead, nowadays, gadgets are becoming more popular. The modern day playground has become virtual as seen presently with the recent game "Pokémon GO’.
One cannot forget the many "must-have’ toys during the 90s summer period.
In 1998, there was the launch of the "Furby’, which Maltese children used to collect by means of constant visits to McDonalds. A year after in 1999, there was the launch of spinning tops called "Beyblades’. A few years later, there was a drink promotion held in Valletta where many children queued for hours in order to exchange drink labels for an original Beyblade. Children spent their summer dividing themselves into teams and battling their Beyblades against one another.
We cannot forget the summer tunes that used to be played on the radio. The Macarena used to be played at every birthday party, which would be generally held at McDonalds. All the kids would gather together and dance to the song. Even if you could not dance, you couldn’t go wrong with the Macarena. In the late 90s, the Ketchup Song was also popular amongst us kids. Even though we could not understand half of the lyrics, everyone used to dance their heart out to the song.
Many kids who were soon to be teenagers used to gather at the Triton Fountain just outside the city gate of Valletta as a meeting point. They would later catch the 6pm bus from Valletta to Paceville. Yes, that’s right, at 6pm. 90s kids used to go to Paceville when it was still sunny and a bus journey to Paceville had a very particular vibe back then. The party started during the bus trip, with the bus radio full on.
One can say that no food is as satisfying as ice-cream on a hot summer day. 90s kids will never forget the obsession with the Bubble-Gum ice-cream of Gelati Mezzan which came in strawberry or vanilla and had bubble gum at the bottom.
All in all, we must say that we like to remember the departed era as a time of no responsibility and simplicity, and we tend to complain that summer has changed; that children have more responsibility, less freedom and fewer indulgences during their summer. The majority of children are spending more time in structured activities such as SkolaSajf doing sports or art, and other children spend their time at home with hours of screen time or even running errands with their parents.
