Sunday, February 9, 2025
26 C
Brunei Town
More

    Would you care for a game of …

    Azlan Othman

    Traditional games have always been part of a cultural heritage, used by our ancestors to occupy free time, used as sporting events or enliven public gatherings on special occasions.

    These games are passed down from generation to generation, and as modern entertainment becomes prevalent among society, the traditions, like many others, are at risk of being lost.

    The Museums Department recently kicked off the Traditional Games Festival to preserve these cultural memories.

    A number of exhibits of the traditional pasttimes are featured at the Brunei Energy Hub Dermaga Diraja in Bandar Seri Begawan until May 31.

    Here’s a look at some of the games on display:

    ABOVE & BELOW: Pieces used to play ‘rising’ and ‘kipas tarik’ on display; and the wooden board used in a game of ‘buah lapas-lapas’. PHOTOS: AZLAN OTHMAN

    A ‘lastik’ piece
    Pieces for a game of ‘gasing tarik’

    BUAH LAPAS-LAPAS

    This game is played with a piece of carved wood with a number of special holes, usually one on the right, one on the left and one in the middle.

    A string with some hanging ‘fruits’ on one side is tied across the body, and knotted in the centre hole.

    The game’s objective is to move the hanging ‘fruit’ from one side to the other without untying the string.

    KIPAS TARIK

    This traditional game is usually played by children living in villages which have rubber trees.

    Kipas tarik is made from fallen rubber tree seeds. The contents are removed, and two holes on the top and bottom of the rubber seed are made to insert a stick, one hole in the middle is made to wrap a thread around the stick inside the seed.

    Meanwhile, a small rotorblade made from bamboo is attached to the top of the stick.

    RISING

    The game of rising, also known as ajong, is derived from the English word ‘racing’.

    It is pioneered by teenage children living in Kampong Ayer, and played with varnished wooden boards made into a ‘T’-shape.

    It is played by sliding it over the surface of the river, usually when the water level is still low.

    It’s not played when the water is higher than waist level as it becomes difficult to slide the board if the player’s hands are at chest height, and the board becomes too difficult to retrieve if it sinks too deep into the water.

    LASTIK

    Lastik was a favourite game among children in the past.

    Children would spend their free time using rubber bands to hit stacked empty boxes or cans.

    The game is also played competitively. The player who successfully hits the target is considered the champion or winner.

    LETUP-LETUPAN BULUH OR SENAPANG PHO

    This game is played with a small bamboo stick about 35 centimetres in length with a hole roughly 15-milimetres in diameter.

    The game uses balled up wet or buah bonglai as ‘bullets’.

    Two wet paper bullets are inserted into the bamboo.

    Both must be compact when inserted into the hole of the senapang, with one acting as a pusher for the bullet in front.

    GASING TARIK

    Gasing tarik is simple and popular game among Malay children in Brunei. The equipment is easy to obtain and made from a wooden cover shaped round or a bottle with string.

    The middle part of the top is drilled to insert the string, allowing it to spin when pulled, hence the name of the game, gasing tarik.

    PASANG

    In pasang, black and white tokens are arranged on a playing board, forming a pattern.

    There is a catalogue of more than 30 different patterns, with many resembling embroideries commonly seen on kain songket or kain tenun.

    Two players take turns capturing these tokens, scoring one point for each black token and two points for each white one.

    The game ends when the board is empty, or when a player runs out of moves.

    spot_img

    Related News

    spot_img