Happy Birthday Miffy!!!

Firstly, I've gotta sing a birthday song to dearest Miffy, the bunny from my childhood.

Here goes:

Happy Birthday To You

Happy Birthday To You

Happy Birthday dear Miffy

Soon you'll be 52!

Haha! Well, Miffy dearest will need another 2 years before she is officially 52, because this year, Miffy is celebrating her 50th birthday in Edinburgh with her fans, both big and small!

I'm not sure how many of you really remember Miffy, the white rabbit with a cross for her mouth, but she was this adorable rabbit that imbued the essence of innocence. Not only were Miffy books easy to read, but they were also coloured with really basic colours and the other actors like Boris Bear were easy to identify because dogs looked like dogs, and bears looked like bears, and once drawn a certain way, the design would never change or at least deviate substantially from the original way it was drawn.

In a way, it's comforting to parents because Miffy serves to remind us that some fundamental things from the past aren't going to change much and I suppose it somehow helps us salvage the innocence we have lost throughout the years as we have grown up.

Miffy may be viewed as somewhat similar to characters like Hello Kitty or My Melody, but personally I think there is a difference. Miffy may not have a massive cult following the way Hello Kitty has, and may not even have people queuing up overnight in front of McDonald's just so people can get their hands on the dolls, but the fact is, Miffy is special.

Miffy can bring the same joy to people whether Asian or Caucausian. She doesn't discriminate against races, or language. Instead, Miffy practices the idealogy of love because she is human enough to know death (of her granny) and is not characterised into an impossible ideal of eternal happiness. In face of pain, Miffy doesn't wallow in self-inflicted grief but encourages us all, by recognising sadness as much as she recognises joy.

Thank you Miffy. I love you! Because even though you don't smile much, you still manage to bring smiles to people both big and small, all over the world.