As Joe was replacing the marbles from his aquarium, his uncle, Tat Seng was observing from his recliner when he had a sudden flashback of his childhood.
He was reminded of the time that he used to play with marbles his younger sister, Suet Mei – Joe’s mother. They would usually play after finishing their homework in the evening at the field across their house.
At the field, they would look around for a flat ground where they would start laying some of the marbles that they brought from their house while keeping a handful of marbles as they would throw them to hit the marbles that were on the ground. The game is rather simple, the person who hit the most marbles, wins the game. So, it is a game that focus on precisions and patience.
Being the older sibling, Tat Seng would usually allow his sister to win but there are times his competitive nature strikes, and he will sweep all of the marbles, upsetting Suet Mei. She would then run home and complain to their mother that Tat Seng had bullied her where he would have to face with his mother’s nagging. Sometimes when this happens, Suet Mei would hide his marbles without his knowledge in every corner of their house.
Not knowing of his sister’s mischievous deed, he would often ask both his mother and Suet Mei whether they had seen them?
“Mama! Did you see my marbles? Mei Mei (younger sister), where’s my marbles?” he would asked them while franticly search high and low for them. Often times, he would find his marbles under the family’s couch as the marbles had rolled underneath it.
Later as adults, Suet Mei had revealed to Tat Seng what she did back in the past and they both had a good laugh.
From his recliner, Tat Seng called out his nephew, Joe, “Joe, do you have some extra marbles? Do you want to learn how to play a game that I used to play with your mom?”
“I have some extra marbles, Uncle Tat Seng, what game are we playing?” Joe replied.
“We are going to play marbles!” he said while calling out for Joe’s mother to come along.
“Suet Mei, come let’s teach your son how to play marbles,” he called out to her as she was at the backyard.
“Har, so old already lah. You teach him yourself, but do not bully him like you used to bully me!” she yelled from the backyard.
“Okay lah, suit yourself!” Tat Seng replied as he brought Joe out to the garden and taught him the game of marbles.
Such simple toys such as marbles could bring so much joy and bonding between siblings. What was your favourite game/toy while growing up?