Traditional Games

These days, almost all kids play video games or soccer, tennis and basketball. Games like Congkak, Main Lereng, Baling Tin, Sepak Raga or Gasing are bygones. While having a chat with my dad who is more of a ‘homeboy’ (mom’s a bit of town kid), he gave me a list games he used to play as a kid. Some were the games of this soil and some were that adapted from neighbouring countries. However, I made a dash before he started his lecture on, “You know, kids these days…” His voice fading away and the last line that I could hear was, “There wasn’t even colour televison in my house!” Anyway, thanks dad for the eye-opener.
The exponential advent of technology has had a huge impact on the games that kids chose to play these days. We cannot totally deny the fact that technology has helped improvise our lives but once in a while, apart from riches in the form of money, memories and fun-filled experiences are something that money can’t buy and childhood memories are definitely one of our treasured possessions.
I can see why such games have fallen out of favour with today’s children who are born and bred in the city. Within the confines of the space-challenged high-rises, where gardens are small and the grounds concreted, you can’t play these games in their true form without breaking the windows of someone’s home or the windscreen of your neighbours’ cars.
While chatting with a friend of mine who is a father of two kids, he conceded that he wouldn’t allow his boys to play such dangerous games like Konda Kondi or Layang Layang but he would rather have them spending hours on the PlayStation. As long as his children are safe, he would not mind the cost of frequent software or equipment upgrade. Running through the list of games they had access to, I spotted Grand Theft Auto. I told him that he and his children are paying the price of losing out on the healthy interaction with other children that games of old provide. Besides, these games are a reflection of our cultural