Heritage snippets

What to play

1) Congkak is a game played on a wooden boat-shaped block with two rows of seven circular holes and two large holes at both ends called “home”. It is popular in Malay villages. Players try to outwit one another. Congkak requires two players. Each player controls the seven holes on his side of the board and owns the “home” to his left. The goal is to accumulate as many pieces in your own “home”.

2) Silambam  is a weapon-based Indian martial art originating in Tamil Nadu. It derives from the Tamil word silam meaning “hill” and the Malayalam word bambu from which the English “bamboo” originates. This refers to a particular type of bamboo from the Kurinji hills in present-day Kerala. Thus silambam was named after its primary weapon, the bamboo staff, and the stick fighting.

What to do

3) Ritual food cooking

Among the ritual food to be showcased are assam daging, bak chang and adde pariyaram.

The assam daging, a zesty stew of buffalo innards, was once served only to nobles on Hari Raya Puasa while bak chang (glutinous rice dumpling) was first made by villagers who wanted to feed the fishes in a river where their hero had died, hoping the fishes would not eat his body.

The adde pariyaram is deep-fried dough enriched with banana, coconut milk and eggs that was made by new brides for their families before leaving home to join their husbands’ family.

4) Chinese opera and puppet show

Penang Chinese opera and puppet shows as well as “kotai” in Hokkien (stage singing performances) are staged in various parts of Penang during the month-long festival. The shows are staged to appease the wandering spirits and to keep the departed souls entertained.

5) Boria performance

Photo courtesy of thestar.com.my

Boria performance is a parody theater unique to Penang. The presentation of each group has a different theme such as movie themes, tale, fairyland and animation. The performance is a very special art form.

A typical Boria troupe consists of a leader, a chorus, comedians, and musicians. The performance normally begins with a short comic sketch and followed by a song-dance routine featuring a juxtaposition of choral and solo parts.

The song-dance routine commonly performed in a western music style and with dance forms such as rumbas, Cha-cha-cha or soul. Boria’s theme varies from Arab warriors, European traders to Chinese shopkeepers around which the costumes and comic improvisations revolved.