Sunday, June 22, 2008

Passing The Hours By

In the days way before Personal Computers and the Internet as it is today existed, many children had to make do with games that involved other people, namely children, be they neighbours or in school. Though many of the games such as Catch, Police and Thief, Hopscotch, Hardball (can't remember the name, but one throws the ball painfully hard at another), and scores more are near to extinct today, it lives well in the minds of the generation that grew up with those games. Apart from honing a child's social interaction, the physical aspects of the games gives many children the exercise needed to strengthen their body, limbs, and mind, which many would find tiring and find ways to avoid at all cost.

Other than the games mentioned above, there were also Chinese-Checkers, Drought (Dam-Haji), Chess, Country (words game), and numerous more which helps the mind from going idle, especially during rainy days when one has to say indoor. Sometimes though, even these games can grow dull and a child's mind would always wander for new games to be played just to pass the hours by.

At the beach in KT, I came across a clutch of pines of a fir tree on the ground. Though fir trees can be found even in KL, these pines I found at the beach rekindled a memory when we were living in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, and had very little toys or games. Children of a nearby village would often come around and play with us and even taught us a simple game using the pines of a fir tree - a game just to pass the hours by when in extreme boredom.
A pine or leaf of the fir tree grows in sections, quite similar were one to look at those of a bamboo tree. The pine being smaller, off course, makes it easier for a child to detach each section of it till one has about a whole handful. Then, each child would then try to assemble the pines as long and tall possible without having them bend and break. Mindless game as it was, it does take patience and purpose to arrange and assemble the pines, not to mention small dexterous fingers.

The game, as mentioned, was mindless and leads nowhere. It is quite unlike the latest initiative by the gomen to ease the burden of the rakyat due to the petrol price hike.

While I'm quite sure some would not agree, but I think the decision to allow Civil Servants to operate small businesses would only lead to further abuse of their position. The same goes for the licensing authorities who now have more people who will be beholden to them. One only needs to talk to the hawkers on the street to know of the treatment one can expect, and how this decision would lead to case of too many people with too many licenses. And that is just the least of the problems that would arise from a mindless move by some people who just want to pass the hours by.

15 comments:

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

as it is now, civil servants have been venturing into small-time businesses, the notorious MLM being the prominent one. anything just to get little extra income i'm all for it. as long tak buat keje haram sudah.

*hardball- Chopping (?). at least during my time we called it as that. chopping. pakai bola tennis. bola hoki pon boleh kot.

Unknown said...

In Penang we call hardball 'cabak' I think it is a Chinese word. Boy when it hits you square in the back it burns. How I wosh I could cabak a few people in the cabinet, right in the crotch.

jaflam said...

Salam Shah,
I remember making motor bike from wooden box, no engine just glide from the bukit road taking corner and turns like Remp-It. High Tec game and the low Tec will be collecting guli from water reservoir and main pangkah !!!!

Ydiana said...

Never mind those mindles games, they're still good for the mind and body in terms of concerntartaion, focus, and coordination.

But the mindless people running the country, forces everyone to play flip floppy, topsy turvy, hay wiring, pain in the a...ing, heart crunching soul seraching, stomach tying... and the list goes on. :(

Anonymous said...

played konda-kondi, galah panjang, 5 stone (batu seremban), rounders (cam baseball jgk)and this stupid game called, "AEIUO, Benggali loves U". Hehe. I had so much fun masa kecik.

Harap2 k/tgn awam yg dpt lesen berniaga ni, x melembabkan "delivery system" perkhidmatan awam. Asik sibuk nak berniaga, kerja hakiki pon buat samberono jer.

cakapaje said...

Salam kerpie,

Chopping, that's right! I totally forgotten then name. Hmm...this could be dangerous. Anyway, we did not used bola tennis, but real hard rubber balls, which can be very painful.

As for CS doing business, mlm is totally different ballgame than small business such food stalls. It is OK for us to say OK, but have we considered the stall owners - those who work from morning to night plying their trade, and have no other income - whether its OK with them now that the cake is smaller.

Do remember that lesser and lesser people are eating out now due to the ringgit bite. Thus, if CS wants to part time doing food business as well, where does that leave the full time business people?

Further, doind MLM is not as physically demanding as compared to operating a stall; try, becoming owner/operator of a stall and you will know what I mean. And those CS, will they have the energy to carry through the next day? Take into account that not all people have high energy level. And if they can't, what happens to our Civil Service? The repercussion of this move is long and winding. Most of all, it is not right.

As for halal/haram, take a long look into this move once it gets going full swing. Then, you tell me.

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

Lol! I believe kerp would join you there. Only, he wants to use a hockey ball! ;)

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Dato',

Aye! So did a few friends and I. There was a real steep road near our house in Section 20, PJ, which we used as our rempit-alley. Don't mind saying, many of us had quite a number of bruises when the cart went out of control. Maybe, one of this days, we ought to rempit again, lol! ;)

cakapaje said...

ps. I loved playing Guli 15 holes or something like that. Unfortunately, my Guli always get smashed to pieces as they are only batu kapur, while a few friends had real marble Guli!

cakapaje said...

Salam ydiana,

There, there, there. You sound real pissed off. Buat bersabaq, selawat bebanyak.

InsyAllah, soon, we will have a better government ;)

cakapaje said...

Salam Raina,

Jom, kita main batu seremban. Den dah lama tak ni. Pastu, kita main skipping lak ;)

Betul tu...bila ringgit dah ada depan mata, pelbagai perkara boleh terjadi, termasuklah korupsi mengejar tempat niaga terbaik, menciluk, memijak hak orang lain, dan menganggu periuk nasi peniaga.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

thats why i said mlm shah. time flexibility. kira utk extra cash ok la...

Anonymous said...

salam shah,
i was a bit different dulu. i like to panjat pokok ceri. i used to stay up there lama and sing songs.

cakapaje said...

kerpie,

Yes, that you did. I just thought of laying it clear for anyone who might have different ideas.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Accia,

Wah! Kiranya you kecil kecil dulu dah jiwang jiwang le, lol! (ampun!)

But at our house in Pengkalan Chepa, our neighbour had a Cherry tree, one which my sis and I climbed almost everyday. I remember stuffing as many Cherries into all my pockets until they looked dyed-red. But at that time, I never did like Cherries ;)