Games, Pastimes and Handicrafts of Malaysia

Sepak Takraw 

Games and Pastimes

Traditional Malaysian games and pastimes range from those found as part of festival celebrations to year-round activities that are just for fun. Many of these games and pastimes also make great gifts and souvenirs of your time in Malaysia. Here's just a taste.

Silat is the Malaysian indigenous martial art, a sport increasingly popular around the world. Part dance and part combat, Silat is an elegant combat sport that is regularly exhibited at weddings and cultural festivals.

A wau is literally an enormous, colourful kite that makes you say 'Wow!' Measuring up to 3.5 metres from head to tail, these kites and the experts who fly them are amazing to watch. Keep an eye out for these at the end of the rice harvest season in particular.

Gasing is a unique game of strength and balance where players unleash a large, heavy spinning top using a rope, then scoop the still-spinning top up off the ground using a special paddle and places it onto a stand. The longest spinner wins.

Wayang Kulit is an enchanting form of puppet show using intricately carved, two-dimensional puppets with exaggerated features to tell epic traditional stories.

Sepak Manggis is a game played by the Bajau and Iranun where, somewhat like the Mexican piñata, players whack a floral container raised 10 metres in the air that's filled with goodies.

Sepak Takraw is the Malaysian form of hacky-sack, where a ball woven from buluh or bamboo is kept in the air using any body part except the hands and lower arms. More skilful players play using a net, somewhat like volleyball.

Congkak is a traditional mathematical board game played since ancient times on a boat-shaped board using tamarind seeds (or shells, marbles or stones).

Handicrafts

Malaysia offers a huge variety of traditional handicrafts, ranging from priceless antiques to modern hand-made crafts. Here's a selection found around the country.

Ornate water vessels are unique and interesting pieces, including Labu Sayong, a black, gourd-shaped clay jar used to store and cool water, as well as the terenang.

Keen chefs might like to pick up a belanga, a cooking pot with a round base and wide rim often used to cook curries, as well as some traditional metal or wooden kitchenware.

Wooden handicrafts are plentiful thanks to the substantial timber stock in Malaysia and can be purchased in the form of antique Malay-styled engraved panels, keris dagger handles, Chinese containers, unique Orang Asli spirit sculptures, intricate walking sticks and carved scented woods

Traditional brass casting and bronze working techniques are still used to make an array of utensils, and the discovery of tin in Malaysia has led to high quality Malaysian pewter. Metal craft products include modern decorative items and traditional artifacts like tepak sireh sets, rose-water instruments and keris blades.

Local plant fibres such as bamboo, rattan, pandan and mengkuang leaves are widely used and coiled, plaited, twined and woven to produce items such as bags, baskets, mats, hats, tudung saji and sepak raga balls.

Malaysian textiles

Malaysia's traditional textiles are greatly sought after, including batik, songket, pua kumbu and tekat. These textiles are made into all sorts of decorative items, from haute couture clothes to shoes, colourful curtains and delicate bed linen. Malaysian batik offers an endless array of styles, designs and colours and is usually made using traditional methods rather than mass-produced.

Jewellery and accessories range from indigenous beadwork from Borneo to ornate and sophisticated gold and silver pieces. Traditional pieces include brooches, hairpins and belt buckles