“Go Ali, go!” cheered the crowd that had just gathered to watch the kuti kuti competition. Ali skillfully flicked his kuti kuti, a small, monkey-shaped plastic toy, and it landed on top of Bala’s pineapple-shaped one.

“Ali won again!” the crowd exclaimed, as Ali had yet again beaten another opponent easily. Ali thrusted his chest proudly and held up his opponent’s kuti kuti that rightfully belonged to him now.

“Do any of you want to challenge me?” Ali asked the crowd. All of them started backing away slowly as they did not want to give up their kuti kuti, knowing they would lose.

“I will!” A voice came from the back of the crowd. All the heads turned, curious to see who had said that. It was John, a newcomer. He stepped forward and took out his new kuti kuti. Ali accepted the challenge, confident that he would win. However, to everyone’s surprise, John defeated Ali. Enraged, Ali shook his head in disbelief, before throwing all his kuti kutis at John’s face. Stunned, John was unable to dodge the little plastic pieces, and one of them hit his eye.

Equally furious, John punched Ali in the stomach and before long, both of them were fighting. Most of the people in the crowd were so afraid that they ran back to their seats while others tried to break up the fight. However, both Ali and John were stronger than them, so they could easily push them out of the way.

“Stop fighting at once!” A voice that came from behind boomed. All of them stopped what they were doing and looked up. It was their teacher Ms Tong!

“I saw what happened. Firstly, I shall tell you the history of kuti kutis. Kuti kuti is a traditional Malay game that children your age played in the 1960s, to pass time as they did not have much entertainment. They are little plastic figures that could be brought from their neighborhood mama (Indian brother) stalls at 5 or 10 cents for a small packet. It was a table-top game and all they needed to do was to flip their kuti kuti over their opponent’s to win. The game was meant to help the children make more friends and expand their social circle. However, the two of you ended up fighting!” Ms Tong reprimanded.

“The two of you should not be fighting over such a small matter. Ali, you should have sportsmanship and accept your loss. I want both of you to apologise and make up. I will also be informing your parents about this fight.” Ms Tong said.

Both Ali and John realized their mistakes and apologised to each other. When they got home, they received a good beating from their parents. To the surprise of many, both of them grew to become best friends after the incident. They were also given the nickname “Kuti Kuti Kings” as they were unbeatable in this game, especially when they were working together as a team.

Article written by: [Tan Jie Min], [National Junior College]