At lunch time today, an interesting topic cropped up amongst my colleagues and I. It was on games we used to play as a child. Games we played with our friends whilst waiting for class to start at school, or those we played alone, in the lazy afternoons when none of our friends could come out to play because of one reason or another.
I’m sure we all have our childhood memories when it comes to these games of the past; who we played with, when we played them and where we were exactly when we played them. For most of us who grew up way before the advent of computer generated games like PS 1, 2 and 3..(is there a 4?), these games were our little forms of entertaiments and enjoyments. I love the fact that these games were very simple and straight forward. No wire cables or plug points needed. Often, all that's required were simple stuff like a piece of chalk, rubber bands, cap bottles and a whole lot of imagination.
I remember my primary school would start at maybe around 1p.m...but I was usually at school an hour before that. My friends and I would run to the field where the giant saga trees with its lush foliage, would provide us with some shade. We planted ourselves there and immediately got into our respective groups. From then onwards it was GAME ON. We would only stop when the bell rang, signaling it was time to get to class.
I recall these games were actually seasonal. At one time we would be playing Teng-Teng (hopscotch). At another time it might be the hundreds of rubber bands attached to one another (zero point). Sometimes we might be playing with 5 bottle caps or the famous batu seremban on the canteen table. Then, there’s the galah panjang or cop tiang. There’s this other one which I can’t remember the actual name. Is it capteh? Where we have a couple of feathers stuck on a small circular rubber piece and we’re supposed to hit it with our legs (timbang2) as many times as possible and stop when it hits the ground. Aaahhh! Those were the days.
In retrospect, I often wonder what was it that made these games so enjoyable? Was it the people we played with or its sheer simplicity? Perhaps it’s both. When I tell my children about my childhood and the games that I used to play, there is often this look of bewilderment. Then it dawned upon me that many of the kids today may have never heard or seen any of these games. It would be a shame if the art/skills of teng-teng or galah panjang or zero point are lost in the future. Hmmm..perhaps it’s time to smuggle out some chalks from school. I feel my itchy feet can do with a bit of hopping with the kids.
I’m sure we all have our childhood memories when it comes to these games of the past; who we played with, when we played them and where we were exactly when we played them. For most of us who grew up way before the advent of computer generated games like PS 1, 2 and 3..(is there a 4?), these games were our little forms of entertaiments and enjoyments. I love the fact that these games were very simple and straight forward. No wire cables or plug points needed. Often, all that's required were simple stuff like a piece of chalk, rubber bands, cap bottles and a whole lot of imagination.
I remember my primary school would start at maybe around 1p.m...but I was usually at school an hour before that. My friends and I would run to the field where the giant saga trees with its lush foliage, would provide us with some shade. We planted ourselves there and immediately got into our respective groups. From then onwards it was GAME ON. We would only stop when the bell rang, signaling it was time to get to class.
I recall these games were actually seasonal. At one time we would be playing Teng-Teng (hopscotch). At another time it might be the hundreds of rubber bands attached to one another (zero point). Sometimes we might be playing with 5 bottle caps or the famous batu seremban on the canteen table. Then, there’s the galah panjang or cop tiang. There’s this other one which I can’t remember the actual name. Is it capteh? Where we have a couple of feathers stuck on a small circular rubber piece and we’re supposed to hit it with our legs (timbang2) as many times as possible and stop when it hits the ground. Aaahhh! Those were the days.
In retrospect, I often wonder what was it that made these games so enjoyable? Was it the people we played with or its sheer simplicity? Perhaps it’s both. When I tell my children about my childhood and the games that I used to play, there is often this look of bewilderment. Then it dawned upon me that many of the kids today may have never heard or seen any of these games. It would be a shame if the art/skills of teng-teng or galah panjang or zero point are lost in the future. Hmmm..perhaps it’s time to smuggle out some chalks from school. I feel my itchy feet can do with a bit of hopping with the kids.
Err..this is not me playing batu seremban ok!
4 comments:
We dont understand what youre saying . How can you fun without at least 2AAA battery eh? So.cult.malaysia
slime buggy,
Aiyaaa! U must be from a different generation. Very simple, it has a lot to do with using our imagination and improvisation.
Can enjoy anytime, anywhere. No friends around, no batteries, no electricity...no problem it's still game on for us.
HeHe.. I wrote something similar to this some time ago. Yes, I teach my kids to play teng-teng @ hopscotch too. Great fun. Low-tech but all fun.
d,
my fav is main getah. Being the kemetot I was, usually never made it pass the ears. Opponent yg pegang getah selalunya the tall girls...kalau dpt lepas telinga they all, that can be considered as a miraculous feat! Ha!ha!
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