During my years inside the school bus, we played a lot of weird games. Among the weirdest (and most controversial), was the ala-bhai game. If you’re from Penang, you should already know what I’m talking about.
Like I said, it’s very controversial. Some deemed it as racist… some deemed it as immoral. But hell, we kids from all ethnicity have been playing this for DECADES …. and as a kid, I believe our souls are somewhat pure and innocent, and very certainly, there were no means of ill will or racism in it. It was just a game that was created out of sheer fun and mischief.
Alright, enough of that disclaimer bullshit. Just read it at your own discretion. You can choose to laugh with me, or you can choose to leave my blog to cower at a corner and succumb to your fucked up conservative brain.
You see, Malaysia is a multi racial country. We practically have a little bit of each race from all over the world, but the major ones are Malay, Chinese and Indian … and …. the Sikhs. In Penang (or is it the whole Malaysia ?), we don’t call our Sikh friends as the Sikhs. We call them Bhai. (it’s not a derogatory term, mind you. It’s actually a slang in our colloquial conversation). Right, this is a game about them.
Before I start to explain how the game was played, let me brief you some facts about the Sikhs here. As most of you have already known, the Sikhs are known for their turbans. If you don’t know what’s a turban, then you ought to be hung and shot. A turban is a piece of cloth that was adorned on a Sikh’s head. An article of faith. You can read more about them here — the Sikh Coalition.
These turbans come in many colors and sizes. Adult Sikhs would have a full turban, and a kiddy Sikh will have a smaller version … which is called … a leer (correct me if I’m wrong). The kiddy version are somewhat a bit different, where the cloth is bunned up like a ball above their forehead.
These big and small sized turbans, are sometimes red, blue, black or white in color. I do not recall seeing any other colors but, again, I might be wrong. (smacks head for not understanding more about other race). The different sizes are merely due to individual’s way of constructing their own turban so, they’re kinda different from each other.
So, being kids, these colorful turbans would often fascinate our shallow minds. We didn’t have any idea what they’re for and we didn’t care. That’s why, we loved this game – the ala-bhai game.
How to play the ala-bhai game :
It’s simple. Basically, it’s a spot-a-Bhai game. The game can’t be started as you like… it has to be played spontaneously only when someone spots a Bhai with a turban.
1) Once the person spotted a Bhai with a turban, he would pick a buddy next to him — any buddy — and pinch that guy hard anywhere he prefers (without letting go)… and shout “ala-bhai jope !!!!”. The shout will have to be concurrent with a “jope” hand sign with the other hand. ["jope" hand sign - just make all your five fingers meet at one spot.. and you'll have the "jope" sign]
*It’s a universal rule that we kids have agreed, that one gains an authority to pinch anyone/anywhere he likes … if he spots a turban and gestured the “jope” hand sign.
2) Then, the pincher would ask the victim “what color is the bhai ?” [referring to the color of the turban. Continue to pinch harder if victim fails to answer or incorrectly describes the color].
*Please note, the “jope” hand sign must not be dismissed yet, as it will strip off your authority to pinch.
3) After asking the first question, the pincher would then ask the second question “rugby or hockey ?” [referring to the size of the spotted turban. If it's a full turban, the answer would be "rugby". If it's the kiddy leer turban, answer would be "hockey"]. Pincher would continue to pinch as hard as he can until the victim manages to get the answer correctly.
4) The game ends when the Bhai is out of vicinity, or when the victim answers all the questions correctly — whichever comes last.
So, during our prepubescent days, we’re very alert of our surroundings – because a sight of any Sikh dude would grant us an authority to pinch anyone we like. And failure to spot a Sikh would mean suffering and torment. It’s a game that involves quick reflex, endurance and concentration.
Good old days.