After the success of Upin & Ipin, I've seen so many new local children series making their ways into the hearts of Malaysian kids... Among other popular ones are Bola Kampung & Boboi Boy... 

I sometimes wonder what Ubaid will grow up watching... Most probably one of the locals... 

It was kinda different for me when I was growing up... Yeah, we did have a few local shows like Keluang Man & Yokies, but most were foreign... 

I grew up watching Sesame Street, Barney the Dinosaur, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Doraemon, Tomato Man, Jetman, Flashman, Gaban & other classics... Ahhh... Those were the good ol' days... 

Though having local animation industry developing so much is very good to see, I would like Ubaid to grow up watching foreign shows like Sesame Street & Barney... 

It's not that I feel local shows aren't good enough... In fact, I did watch them sometimes & they're great! They're hilarious... 

It's just that, I managed to grasp English language by indulging myself in English children shows... Sesame Street especially... 

I grew up in a Felda area where no one speaks English... My parents didn't speak English, my brothers didn't... Even most of my English teachers spoke in BM so low level kids could follow... 

So, I gained most exposure on English language by watching English shows... I first noticed that at a very young age when I found it hard to spell most English words but had no problem pronouncing them... 

Being bilingual has a lot of advantages... Some researches even relate bilingualism with having intelligence & cultural awareness... 

Kids have the ability to learn language easily because their brains are still developing... 

Therefore, I'm thinking of introducing him to shows like Ben 10, Justice League, Dora the Explorer & The Avengers... I also think of banning him from watching translated cartoons often shown on TV9... Have you ever watched Spongebob Squarepants in BM? It's ridiculous... The puns just don't work well in BM... 

Back in my days, they only translated Japanese shows like Doraemon & Shin Chan... Today, they translate everything... Pffttt