Batik

 

 

 

 

Batik is known as wax resist dyeing techniques used on textile. Batik has come a long way back in history and it is not very clear where the origin of batik begins. Although batik is very popular in the region of  Malaysia and Indonesia but it has been found that the trace of  wax dyeing 1,500 years back from several countries of Midle East, West Africa, India and some parts of Asia .Batik has also been introduced in Holland in the seventeeth century and later widespread to other parts of Europe countries like germany and currently batik are also being popular in some parts of America.

Malaysia batik has been used both in arts and crafts for centuries. Batik production has been relatively new in Malaysia know as ‘batik tulis’ the commercial production of batik started in 1960.

 

 

Malaysia – Truly Asia

 

Congkak

One of the most fascinating thing about Malaysian culture is to begin understanding that most of its heritages are not originate from its mainland but are being brought into from other lands. Over the centuries traders from all over the would trade spices and other goods using the Straits of  Malacca as their route bringing along with them to Malaysia their diverse cultures. Congkak , a game that is played almost by most of the Malay nobles over the centuries. Congkak is believed originated from the old Malay word congak means ‘count’.

How is it being played? It is a game of board or long  board that has several ‘lubang kampung’ (village)  or ‘lubang anak’  (child) , which has two rows each one with nine palying pits. The objective of the game is to gather as many congkak seeds ( on some occassions marbles are used to replace stones ) . Its a game that is played during one free time and usually played by the women, especially by the youth of the earlier generations.  The game is also similiar to a game name ‘mancala’ , a game which is popular in Borneo and Indonesia , Singapore and Philiphines.

It is also believed that congkak originated from early Malacca Kingdom, and that is has become popular and had spread through the South East Asia Region. Congkak is belived to be played only by the royalty families and people of the palace but later being played by the general public.

As the shape of the congkak is like a shape of a boat it is believed that it is based on legends from where that fishermens who were not able to go out to sea during the rainy season would build the congkak out of being bored .  On the island Java the congkak would have a diffrent shape that of a dragon and being careved on both ends to look like scales. 

Due to its widespread popularity, enthusiats had began documenting various articles on congkak game. You can find find some usefull links here http://www.cs.uu.nl/~hansb/d.gam/mancala.html. Another websites :http://www.myriad-online.com/en/resources/awalink.htm.

There are list of 279 names of the game found through research done and it’s interesting to discover how each country and cultures has its own unique profile and carving in the making of the board.

The popularity of congkak around the world can be attributed to the the simplicity of the board and craftmanship . Whatever versions that the congkak is being played and named today, congkak remains a game of true test of patience and skill.