“Read, and you will be well read.”- No Idea

Dont Play With Fire, Meriam Buluh

We all know how a ‘meriam buluh’ could earn you a handicap parking lot. Although many warnings and sad stories have been told, teens could never resist the war-head sound as it echoes the night.

E for Eddie

My first experience was when I was 13. I followed elder kampung friends into the woods to look for bamboos. Poorly equipped and alien terrain, it was life threatening for an urban boy like myself. I thought of turning back but they were short handed to carry the bamboos for lemang and pelita, plus I don’t even know my way out.

Later at night, I was briefed by elders how to engineer a canon. It’s a simple chemical reaction, provided you know the right amount of sulfur.

KABOOM! I had both my palms firmly pressed against my ear and stood 15 meters away, yet the sound was still intrusive, pummeling through air gaps knocking my ear drums. It was loud, very loud, close to Armageddon.

As I grew older, I became immune to the obnoxious sound. Building one was as easy as folding a paper plane. Like other canon builders, improvision is needed for safety and sound intensity.

I made mine using several wraps of metal pipes and wires. Though it wasn’t as loud as others, mine gave a feint, higher pitched and hollow sound. It could be heard several kilometers afar also, it annoys.

This year, no one build one. I guess canon bearers grew bored or could be due to tighter police supervision.

Whatever it is, I’m glad this dangerous tradition was never inherited. Likewise, pity the generations to come who’ll never get the hands on experience.

pic: Denotes, ‘E’ for Eddie using Sony Alpha 350, slow shutter speed.

ps: Don’t play with your private part fire, it’s addictive.

pss: Anyone know where I can get my hands on ‘thunderclap’ and ‘mercun bola’? :eek:

4 October '08 | Personal | Fave it! | Go to Comment Form

1

|1f34|-|1r3 wrote on
October 4, 2008 at 9:56 am

i agree with not playing the bamboo cannon, but i’m against the idea of not inheriting it to the younger generations..we should pass the knowledge but not the practise…i have my own share of bamboo cannon too… :grin:

ko nak “bedil” bola..aku leh try cari kat sini…hehe :razz:

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 12:33 am

bola best babe. sound memecah keheningan taman keramat ni.

[Reply]

bongkersz replied on
October 7, 2008 at 8:42 am

i agree with don’t play with your private part… :razz: :razz:

[Reply]

2

Saffa wrote on
October 4, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Pfft.. I hate meriam! So annoying! Its always make my heart feel like it going to fall out from it place at the moment I hear it. :???:
And I dont really understand! :!: There are lot of stories about this accident. Why pep keep playing it? :mad:

“Anyone know where I can get my hands on ‘thunderclap’ and ‘mercun bola’?”
Raya tak abis lagi ker? :wink:

[Reply]

3

abdusfauzi wrote on
October 4, 2008 at 3:03 pm

hurm.. :sad: i never had that experience of playing with those canons.. pity me :sad: :?:

Bruneians sell their ‘mercun’ all over the place! (according to my friend)

[Reply]

4

asx wrote on
October 4, 2008 at 11:32 pm

Kampung baru banyak saja ! =)

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 12:22 am

oh? aku dgr dorg slalu kene rush.

lagipon mahal la. satu plastik mercun bola RM70. gilos menipu.

[Reply]

5

Nike wrote on
October 4, 2008 at 11:36 pm

Maenan waktu kecil :smile:

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 8:05 pm

bila sudah dewasa, jarang orang bermain. mungkin factor tanggungjawab lain muncul, e.g. kemas rumah, gosok baju, pasang langsir, kacau dodol etc.

[Reply]

6

Kujie wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 12:48 am

setakat meriam buluh tu rasanya ok lah
yg masalah tiap tahun bersidai kat wad hospital tu sebab masing² nak tunjuk terer p repair itu ini, ubah suai sana sini…..

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 8:03 pm

kalau name orang melayu, tgn mesti gatal nak modify. tgk je kete2, motor2, umah2, pc2.. mmg kaki mod!

[Reply]

7

I Talk wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 10:00 am

I still see people playing the bamboo canon, but much lesser compare to previous year.

Anyway, the amount of mat rempit increasing each year during the festival holiday.

May be, most of the had switch their interest from playing the bamboo canon to having fun on the busy road.

Nothing can be done, yang keras kepala, tetap kepala keras…They have the option to choose, and this is what they want. No one can be blame if anything happen to them.

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 8:02 pm

Rempit? Non existent in Penang. Meriam buluh also rarely heard. Raya is getting lamer by the year.

[Reply]

8

irdzra wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 11:24 am

owh..lama tak kemari.. :grin:

budak2 kat my kampung still plays meriam buluh..i admit its quite annoying and dangerous..but it kinda gets me in the mood of raya..

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 8:01 pm

only during raya we play meriam bulu on other festive season, mane ade dah.

[Reply]

9

taukey wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 12:04 pm

i had my share playing those during my University years. Now i don’t think most people are playing anymore. Its dangerous especially kids nowadays tend to put a lot of explosive and dont maintain the safety in playing. he he. Me included

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 8:00 pm

It’s the case of showing who got BIGGER BALLS. Seriously, I prefer safe than sorry.

[Reply]

taukey replied on
October 5, 2008 at 8:45 pm

hahahaha. i like the term you are using. BIGGER BALLS. hahaha. i just can’t imagine if it is truly the case. hahaha

[Reply]

10

buzzybug wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 12:18 pm

masa kecik2 dulu saya penah join main meriam buluh… skang dah kurang orang main… maybe sbb mercun pun dah macam2 ada, mercun yang bunyi mcm meriam pun ada kot skang nie… :roll:

Selamat Hari Raya…

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 7:59 pm

ade gak pompuan main ek? kite org main kt bendang, luas dan jauh lg bunyi die.

balik umah, penuh dgn pacat.

[Reply]

buzzybug replied on
October 6, 2008 at 3:40 pm

dulu la masa kecik. sbb main kat umah sendiri. :P then lawan ngan jiran sebelah.

skang diorang dah x guna buluh kot. hari tu nampak ada budak main kat sawah gak.

[Reply]

11

KNizam wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 4:00 pm

dulu masa main mercun sampai terbakar kanvas atas lori. hehe :mrgreen:

[Reply]

12

oDiN wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Mercun bola VS mercun ketupat ..
saper menang ?

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 5, 2008 at 7:58 pm

mercun bola kot. byk mercun ketupat aku masuk angin, tak syiok main.

[Reply]

13

smaelz wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 9:24 pm

Skang org x pakai buluh dah.. diorang pakai kolong yg buat salur air longkang tuh.. konkrit lebih kukuh dan bunyi lagi kuat.. xder la pecah cam buluh.. tp aku x pernah main, takat tgk jer..

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 6, 2008 at 4:36 am

pecah gak babe. pipe besi grade pili bombe tak pecah :eek:

[Reply]

14

linie wrote on
October 6, 2008 at 1:25 am

well, i only had one experience. tu pun, tgk je la…. tak borani den… almost burst my ear drums.

i like mercun gasing. ;) the spinning tu mmg best!

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 6, 2008 at 3:14 am

the spinning could never last more than 1 minute. (tak pernah beli yg mahal2 punye)

[Reply]

15

megat wrote on
October 6, 2008 at 1:32 am

pity to the ‘meriam buluh’ time for the kids recently eheh.

remember the feels when we have to find buluh (carik yg besar dan kuat), then find some good ‘kabait’ and start the war night… kebabom! on that time not aware about the safety huhu.

but honestly, don’t play with it, really danger!

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 6, 2008 at 3:15 am

the blast to cure hepatitis C (hahaha), kuat gilos!

[Reply]

16

elvinado wrote on
October 6, 2008 at 11:25 am

Never really play the real Meriam Buluh…I really want but never had the chance…pity generation…Only play the Made of the people of republic of China

[Reply]

17

titan wrote on
October 7, 2008 at 2:04 am

aku sempat wat meriam tin je masa balik kampung aritu. kali ke 5. Tin tu berkecai dan aku sempat menerbangkan diri..

Fuh, nasib tak kene. Tak guna punye kabaid. Mesti masuk angin ni..

[Reply]

NoktahHitam replied on
October 7, 2008 at 2:42 am

I saw that before. Its very dangerous. Keje gile je pakai tin tu.

[Reply]

18

bongkersz wrote on
October 7, 2008 at 8:45 am

Meriam/mercun not for faint hearted, definitely not for idiots.. guess that’s why you see nowadays so many kids hilang anu, hilang tangan, jari, muka terbakar because they just not good at it. Accidents happen… but precautions and safety will reduce that.

[Reply]

19

Aisyah wrote on
October 8, 2008 at 11:27 pm

meriam buluh??? my god. i bunga api pun takut. hahah.

[Reply]

Login or Register if don't want to fill in the details below everytime.