Press & Reviews

The Star - Thursday, 30 November 2007
by Ong Yee Ting

Whirling wonder from Kelantan

WITH a hard hurl, the gasing player threw the top while his team- mate skilfully caught it with a wooden scoop in mid air after the spinning top bounced off a carpeted wooden plat-form.

The top was spinning rapidly on the scoop as the player took it around to show it to the curious audience.

The interesting top spinning demonstration by a 20-member Kelantan Gasing Uri Association troupe was a crowd-puller at the Little Penang Street Market held at Upper Penang Road last Sunday.

Dressed in traditional Malay costumes, the troupe wowed the crowd with their superb skills of spinning the tops which weigh 3kg to 4kg each and have an average circumference of 35cm.

HANDS-ON-EXPERIENCE:Julie gingerly handling a spinning top at the Little Penang Street Market.

The tops, which can spin for about two hours, were put on stands for the audience to view and take photographs.

Troupe member Raslan Ali, 36, said that learning to scoop the top was very tough and it took him three years to master the skill.

“You have to catch it at the right point and the timing must be perfect,” he added.

Visitor Malek Aziz, 49, from Kuala Lumpur, said he had never seen such a big top before. He found the demonstration very entertaining.

OVER THE TOP:Raslan,31,checking on his spinning tops.

“When I was young, I used to play with small tops. This is the first time I am seeing an actual big Kelantanese top,” he said.

English tourist Julia Mar-shall, 61, who was one of the lucky ones given the chance to hold a spinning top, was im-pressed with the skilful performance.

“This is wonderful. I was overwhelmed to see how fast they could spin and catch the top,” she exclaimed.

The troupe later broke into two groups for a friendly top-spinning competition. The winning team had the top that spun the longest.

Other than the top-spinning session, the troupe also entertained the crowd to atraditional musical instrument performance and silat tari (a form of self-defence).

Among those present was Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad who is Penang Bumiputra Tourism Committee chairman.

The Little Penang Street Market is a monthly showcase of arts, crafts and cul- ture with a bazaar selling various types of handicraft, food and other items. The next market will be held from 10am to 6pm on Dec 17.

---