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Congkak
A mathematical game played since antiq-
uity,
Congkak
started out as holes bore into
the ground with tamarind seeds which
were the favourite pastime of women in
Malaya back then. Classified as a
mancala
(board games that require ‘sowing’ or
‘counting and capturing’), the
congkak
is believed to have originated from the
Middle East and brought by either an
Arab or African trader travelling to China.
First played exclusively by the royal court
of the Malaccan rulers, it only became
popular among the wider population later
on, especially amongst the Malays and
Peranakans.
It is most commonly played with two
people who share awooden boardwith 14
holes marking each player’s “village” and
2 “storehouses”, one at each end of the
board. Seeds are then placed in each hole
and redistributed according to the rules of
the game, with the objective of collecting
as many seeds in one’s storehouse as
possible. Men found the game of Congkak
to be “beneath them” so, only women
and children generally took to playing it
the olden days.
Congkak
boards and their accompany-
ing seeds come in a variety of shapes and
sizes as well as materials. The traditional
ones are usually handcrafted from solid
rubber tree wood and fashioned into an
oblong shape and, depending on the skill
of the woodcrafter, can be intricately
patterned or carved with leaves or flower
motifs.
Sepak Takraw
Known by a variety of names in Southeast
Asia, it translates directly to “kick ball”
in English from Malay, with the earliest
recorded mention of it in the 15th century
Malacca Sultanate, after which it then
made its way to Indonesia.
Believed to be an evolution of an
ancient Chinese military exercise where
soldiers would try to keep a feathered
shuttlecock (known as
Jianzi
) airborne by
kicking it with their legs,
Sepak Takraw
is a
variant using a woven, rattan ball instead,
and was a very popular casual sport that
menfolk in olden Malaya entertained
themselves with back then.
The sport is played with three on
a team, separated by a net on its own
specialised court. The goal is to win two
out of three sets, played up to 21 points
per set. A point is awarded to a team
when their opponents commit a fault. A
fault can be committed through a variety
of means, such as touching the ball with
the arms, causing the ball to hit the ceiling
or walls, or touching the ball while on the
opponent’s side of the court.
By the 1940s, the net version of the
game had spread throughout Southeast
Asia, and formal rules were introduced.
Now, there are major competitions over-
seen by the International Sepak Takraw
Federation, such as the ISTAF SuperSeries,
the ISTAF World Cup and the King’s Cup
World Championships, which are held
every year. The game is also a regular fix-
ture at the Asian Games and the Southeast
Asian Games.