Generation next

Would you be interested to know how Patrick Young, a 12-year old pupil in the U.K, described global air pollution? He said: "I shot an arrow in the sky. It stuck."

When I first read it, I felt like a ton of bricks had just fallen on my head. What a powerful thought! So effective and in so few words. Could anyone express the idea better than this? Greenpeace has a budding youngster to join and bolster their ranks in the future.

Another 11-year old boy in Jakarta, asked by his teacher to write on the subject of "Fire", wrote thus: "Fire is a slave -- you move him to where you want, like a miniature doll. He is your companion in the gloomy, winter night. He is an enemy when he spreads his light through the bushes."

He was apparently referring to the forest fires then raging across Indonesia.

It's gratifying to note that today's children are endowed with such a perceptive environmental awareness.

Thoughts are the basis of all actions. We must be proud of our youngsters. They indeed belong to a "thinking" generation.

D. CHANDRAMOULI

Jakarta