Many of us have no doubt heard stories from our parents and grandparents of their idyllic kampong lives and the games they played during their joyful childhoods. For most of us today, the games we have come to know are the single player ones on a bright screen. Back in the day, games were creative – wrought out of pure imagination and items lying around – and children, as well as adults alike, invented them to keep themselves entertained. Of the many games that were created to while away balmy afternoons, were the traditional games played by all.
Zero Point
Paintings depicting children jumping over rope have been found in Medieval Europe and even as far back as ancient China. Although the exact origin of when jump rope came about is unknown, jump rope –or yeh-yeh as it is known to the Malay community – is a game that was played in the yesteryears. Recently making a resurgence among children again, the game is simple with straightforward rules. The rope, made up of many rubber bands, is held at opposite ends while a player attempts to jump over the rope in the middle.
How it’s played:
- Hold the opposite ends of an elastic rope made of rubber bands with another player while a third player attempts to jump over the rope.
- Raise the rope a little higher each time the player successfully jumps over it, up to a point when the player can no longer clear the height of the rope without touching it.
- The player who clears the highest point is the winner! Players can also come up with their own rules to increase the difficulty of the game.
Other methods of playing include standing with two to three other friends in the middle and attempting to clear the rope as it swings above and under them. Today, most of us who still play the game use a plastic PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) cord or durable cord instead of intertwined rubber bands.
Observe how it’s being played:
Spinning Top
Around since antiquity, spinning tops are toys that are designed to spin rapidly on the ground while precisely balanced on its tip. Traditional tops used to be made from wood or a hard fruit, iron and lead, and could be set in motion by winding a string around its axis and quickly pulling it. Today’s tops are made of plastic and don’t require a string to unwind it fast enough to send it spinning: a simple flick of your wrist and your gasing is off.
The type of games involving the top are usually ones that test the endurance of the top to keep on spinning – in a sort of ‘spinning contest’ or the ability of the top to strike another top in a ‘striking match’.
How it’s played:
- Tie a string tightly around the top of the gasing.
- Throw the gasing and pull back the string at the same time. The gasing that spins the longest wins!
In the spinning contest, the person who can afford to keep his top spinning for the longest amount of time wins the match. The top is usually launched and then carefully transferred onto a wooden panel to spin for as long as it can. Surprisingly, the current record stands at two hours! If you were playing the striking match however, you wouldn’t have to watch a top spin endlessly – instead, you’d be playing to topple your opponent’s top by deliberately striking their top with yours. The aim is to displace it and cause it to lose its speed and balance.
Observe how it’s being played:
Capteh
The capteh is another game that has been around long before it came to our part of the world. Today, the object used to play this game looks like a flat rubber base that sprouted colourful feathers but when it was first created to play a simple game of keeping it in the air using one’s heel of the foot, it had a primitive feathered appearance.
Capteh has been dated to 5th century BC in China, known then as Jianzi or ‘shuttlecock’ to the military service men who used the game to train, and Shaolin monks in Henan, to strengthen their martial art skills. Since then, the game has travelled to many Southeast Asian countries and given different names. Capteh very recently reached the Western world and has debuted as ‘Kikbo’.
How it’s played:
- A capteh is a feathered shuttlecock – start by kicking the capteh into the air with one foot and keep it in the air by kicking it.
- A point is awarded for every kick.
- The objective is to keep this going for as long as possible.
Recently inducted as a competitive sport, capteh can also be played in a small group where players compete against each other or compete as a team. When competing individually, players can agree on a winning tally of continuous kicks, with the first person in the team achieving it considered the winner. A player is allowed to touch his foot down with each kick, but not allowed to touch the capteh with his hands.
When playing as a team against other teams, each group stands in a circle. Each team member then takes a turn attempting to keep the capteh in the air until they lose their balance or miss the capteh. The next team member continues the count and this carries on until all the team members have taken a turn in the game. The winning team is determined by the highest number of kicks in total.
Observe how it’s being played:
Five Stones
Batu Seremban is a game that is played with five stones. Seremban refers to the West coast of Malaysia where the game was brought to Singapore from, whereas on the East coast of Malaysia, the game is known as Batu Serembat. In the past, players used to substitute today’s pyramid-shaped cloth bags of sand or rice with actual stones or seeds.
The game of five stones is believed to have originated in Ancient Asia, during the Siege of Troy in 1184 BC. Played sitting down, the game that involves a complete set of eight steps, has been said to improve eye sight, memory, and concentration.
How it’s played:
- Throw the five stones on the ground and select one stone. Then, toss it in the air.
- With the same hand, pick up a second stone from the ground and catch the first stone very quickly before it touches the ground.
- Now with two stones in hand, toss one of the stones into the air and pick up a third stone from the ground.
- Next, throw one of the three stones in hand into the air, whilst picking up a fourth stone from the ground and attempting to catch the falling stone.
- Finally, throw the fourth stone into the air and pick up the final stone on the ground.
The game of five stones has seen players invent many different variations, each with varying difficulty. Interestingly, this game has also travelled to many different countries and assumed different names such as Jackstones, Chuckstones, Dibs, Dabs, Fivestones, Otadama, Tally and Knucklebones.
Observe how it’s being played:
Sources
Let’s Play – Traditional Malay Games @ Malay Heritage Centre (pamphlet)
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_194_2005-01-07.html
Traditional Kampong Games – Roots.sg (Website)
https://www.roots.sg/learn/stories/traditional-kampong-games/story
Traditional Childhood Games 