thinking back about the pranks we played on one another when we were kids in the kampong, i think it reveals a streak in meanness in each one of us. or we put it to our being too young to consider the consequences of our actions and the pyschological harm done to our victims.
i have blogged about how we would rub the rubber seed continuously on some hard surface before pressing it against the flesh of our friends to give them a scorching time.
there were other acts which we carried out to embarrass our friends or to cause discomfort or unpleasantness to them.
one of the pranks that we would play was pulling down the loose pants of our unsuspecting friend, especially in the open and often in the presence of girls. you have to remember, in those days we went about - like what the hawaiians say - hanging loose: we did not wear underwears.
it was not like in this video clip where the men and woman all had undercovers.
another mean act of ours, which would cause discomfort to our victims, was to get the ripe red fruit of the macarthur's palm and rub it against the skin of our victims. when the sap of this fruit, a favourite with birds, comes into contact with the skin, it will cause one to feel an itching sensation. our poor friend would quickly look for water to seek relief to wash away the offending sap.
another trick which we played on newbies is using the stalk of the lallang flower. you can only play this once on some uninitiated ones. once they have tasted a mouthful of it, they will not fall for it again. the flower of the lallang is rather cottony. we would tell our would-be victim that the stalk was sweet. the moment, the victim put his lips to the stalk, we would pull it across and he would end up with a mouthful of the cottony stuff.
in this high tech age, children no longer have any use for things found in the natural environment.
