FUN and GAMES

 For many youths, the afternoone were predominantly devoted to recreational pursuits. There were traditional sports like athletics, and games such as soccer, badminton, hockey, table tennis and basketball. These were usually organised and conducted in schools which had the necessary facilities and equipment. 

Away from the school environment, there were the "seasonal games" Different periods of the year were designated for games such as kite flying, top spinning contests, marble competitions. There were even seasons for spider fighting and fish fighting. 

Participatns stuck very closely to the game of the season. Although there were no exact dates to mark the start and end of each season, there seemed to to be communal agreements on such issues! Somehow, everyone knew what season was on, and if it was the marble season, that was the only game played. Likewise  if was the season for kite flying, there would  be focus on this particular activity and nothing else.

Game of marbles

The game of marbles that was played in the community was interesting and exciting, and it often drew many participants and onlookers. It was played on a stretch of sandy soil by the side of the road. Each participant would contribute one or two normal clay marbles to a common pool. These marbles would then be placed in a straight line at regular intervals of about 10 centimetres. There would be the  'head' and 'tail' to the line. Each participant ould also have his own striker marble which was usually slightly bigger in size than the normal one. 

To start the game off, each participant would cast his striker marble a distance from the line of marbles. The purpose was to use the striker  to strike a marble on the line. If a striker struck the 'head' marble, he would walk away with all the marbles on the line. However, if a striker struck a marble nearer the 'tail', he would only be allowed to collect the marble that was struck, and the ones in direction of the 'tail'.

If a striker failed to strike any marble, the participant would go away with nothing, and he would have lost his contribution of the marbles.

Another rule of the game was that the participant whose striker was furthest from the line of marbles would get to strike first followed by the next furthest and so on. It was a gamble and common to see boys losing all the marbles they brought with them

Playing with tops

The top was often referred to by its Malay name "Gasing".[ pronounced gah -sing] The top was made of hard wood and easily available from neighbourhood provision shops. The game was focussed on destrucion with the ultimate purpose of breaking the opponent's top. It was a one-to-one contest. 

A player would spin his top on the ground and the opponent would use his top to strike the spinning top with great force, with the objective of causing damage or even breaking it. They would take turns to do this. With such an intention, each top would be equipped with a sharp and strong pin which served for spinning as well as for striking the opponent's top.

Ususally the original pin that came with the top would be replaced by a brass or steel screw with the head sawn off. These tops would have the battle scars of cavities or indentations.

Hop Scotch

One popular game among the girls and younger children was the Hop Scotch or "Teng Teng". The pattern preferred is the one shown here. Each player would have his or her own marker which was usually a small piece of stone or some object that was heavy enough to be thrown onto the play area.

This was sometimes done with a player doing it over the shoulder without looking at the play area. The marker had to land on one of the slots to commence play. If not, he or she had to re-cast the marker till it found a slot. The player would then go through a set of routine that was known to all Hop Scotch players. Such games often went on for hours!