More than just pen and paper

It seems as if it were only yesterday that I first learned how to hold and keep a firm grip on a wooden lead pencil.

I specifically liked the thin cursive lines a freshly sharpened pencil leaves on paper in between the wide-spaced, pale blue lines.

I have lost count of the number of pencils I have used up during my childhood before eventually mastered the alphabets and the stroke order of Chinese characters.

Back in the school days, I could not imagine a day go by without writing.

The tiny handwritten notes we passed around at school; the handmade greeting cards we personalised for family and friends we cared about; line after line of thoughts and dreams we’ve scribbled, sketched or penned down in our diaries…

Handwriting is not only a distinct form of communication, but also an extension of our identity. Penmanship adds sentimental value to every crafted messages, however simple the messaging appears to be.

In an increasingly digital-driven society, it takes conscious effort to find a sweet spot between digital and putting pen to paper.

Today, some of our routines have become digitalised that many if not most of us barely lift a pen or pencil in our daily lives. In the process, we risk to flatten our written form of expression on lit-up screens.

Too many a time we find it much more convenient to type notes on our smartphones, so much so that we are delighted when we do, on rare occasion, at the receiving end of a written note. The effect of written messages lasts far longer than the digital alternative.

The future generations to come may perceive pen and paper as old-fashioned tools, but penmanship undeniably brings more meaning to the table, and has the kind of emotional imprint in a way emails and text messages not able to induce.

At the time and age where it has become an acceptable social norm to send virtual gifts, hugs and kisses, font face such as Times New Roman, Arial or Century Gothic still do not represent the person crafted the message, but a handwritten note with its distinctive script does.