Below are popular traditional games often played by local children during the old days
Guli (Marbles)
The game of marbles used to be popular as it didn’t require a large area. There are various ways and rules to play the game depending on each group.
To begin, the leader will first draw a circle on the ground. A straight line is then drawn from the circle, the latter becoming the distance marker from which players will try to flick their marbles as close to the circle as possible.
The rules of the game vary from place to place. In some versions, players try to hit their opponents’ marbles by flicking their own marbles at the target. Another version sees the players hit each other’s marbles out of the circle.
Ketingting
The ketingting is a garden game that is affectionately known as ‘Tingting’ or the Malay ‘Hopscotch’. As its name goes, the game is played on a set of drawn out boxes on the ground, beginning with a “home” box which serves as a base. Each player will throw a stone into the designated box, and hop towards it to claim it as their own, and no other players are allowed to step on that particular box from that point. To win this game, the player has to accumulate as many boxes as possible.
Sorok-sorok (Hide and Seek)
Hide and seek is probably the most famous game played by children all around the world. It is a simple but exciting game that can easily be played without any materials or limit to the number of players involved. Locally, it also bears the name of “Main Ibu” or “Main Induk”.
Kaki Hantu
Kaki Hantu, or ghost feet originated from the idea of stilt walking. Youngsters in the rural villagers will chose to play this game in the evening to add to the excitement. Each team will normally consist of two members that are placed 40 to 50 meters apart, and the game began with the first participant walking to his partner on a stilt. The game concludes when both participants of a team completes the walk on stilts.
Sepak Bulu Ayam
During the Han dynasty of China, there is a similar game played in the palace grounds known as Jianzi or shuttlecock or feather ball. Children would collect four avian feathers and attach them together onto a rounded cork, and the objective of the game is to kick the shuttlecock and keeping it in the air for as long as possible. In Malaysia, the game is known as Sepak Bulu Ayam, or otherwise Sepak Yem within various districts in Johor.
Join our Telegram channel to receive latest news alert