They were the sons of my cousin neighbour and his friends from surrounding villages.
They had built a movable ping-pong table and depending on the weather, they placed the table either just to the left of our main gate when the weather is fine or in Yaacob's house compound when it rains.
They realy play ping-pong,these boys. The bright street light and the night breeze makes playing fun. Boys being boys, they play with ernest and interspersed with words such as 'natang mu' (you animals) and 'bodo' (moron).
The words are just that, nothing in them. They are just the way kids communicate and stress their points between one another. They are the way Tranung kids express themselves.
The husband of my other cousin always asks me why I allow the ruckus to go on in front of my house. I say it is ok. It is far better for them to play and make some noise rather than they going around on motorbikes endangering themselves as well as other road users.
For me, they are just like security guards guarding our houses from unwanted persons from intruding.
I told them go on playing but plaese do not litter. They promise not to do so, but a peek into the drain reveals there are rubbish in it.
Once I even allowed them into my house compound to get the mangoes. They ask me when the sight of relatives picking the fruits is just too much for them not to ask.
They came in, climb the mango tree and came out with lots of green mangoes in their t-shirts turned into bags.
They are still playing and guarding, these boys!
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1 comment:
A good sodaqah on your part..
I remembered similar act by my late x-FIL, he befriended some kampung boys who have nothing to do other than disturb girls and young ladies passing through the area where they congregate.
The old man offered to buy sepak takraw net, few takraw ball if they were kind enough to make a simple takraw court (using bamboo as lines) in an area across the main road in front of his house.
For the weeks that followed the old man brought few gallons of drinks for the boys..
Two of those boys were Adnan Saidin and his partner Shukri Ismail.. two of the top names in the 1980's Malaysian sepaktakraw team.
Like you said it is better that those boys make a lot of noise playing games rather than riding motorbikes and endangering themselves.
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