TEDxJakarta - Zaini Alif - The Secret Meaning of "Hom Pim Pa"

Before a game usually starts, there are magic words that is always done by children. those are the Magic words we need to do now to start this game. [Audience laughs] Ok, lets do it together. One, two, three [AUDIENCE] "Hom pim pah alaihom gambreng" Okay .. You are now officially playing with me right now. My name is Zaini Alif. I've always been this small, because I always hang around with kids. [Audience laughs] So after i finish my research in games, Ill be at least this tall. Thats when i will finish researching games. I have researched games in almost every region in the country. And sometimes I ask myself "Why am i doing this?" Why do i like games? Actually when I think about it, it goes way back. Here is a place, a place where I was born. It is a place called "Kampung Bolang". There's an TV show called Bolang too, but this has been here for hundreds of years. Kampung Bolang. This Bolang village, is also very far away from. Ee .. Where the school is, its very far from here. This is where I play. Here, anything can be used to play. If you can see those things on the top, that is a Kolecer. Or wind propellers, big traditional toys to welcome the wind. Well .. This is what I like to play when I was little. This is my playground. This is what I pass when I go to school. i have to walk about 12 km to go to school every day. I had to leave at dawn, walking through this ridge. On the way to school, there's nothing i could do. To read, gives me a headache. there is really nothing to do. So, I play. playing with the mist, playing with the leaves, playing with rice, grass and so on. That's what i did back then. So i also often play. if you look closely, somewhere in this picture is me. I am there, somewhere. So thats whats fortunate about me. Luckily compared to you, I am much shorter. So when you communicate with children, you must do this. [BOWING] But for me, i don't have to do that. [LESS BOWING] They feel they are in the same level as me. So my intentions are translated easier. That is whats good about being small. So then, i went to Bandung. To the big city, i think Bandung is a big city. So, can i play here? So I decided, once i entered college i will study about traditional games. Regardless of what anyone says about it, i studied traditional games. And eventually i obtained my graduate degree in games. [Audience laughs] The only graduate from ITB, majoring in games. So, i've identified about 250 kinds of traditional games, in the Sunda region (West Java) alone. By going around traditional villages. Then i identified 212 traditional games in Java. And then 50 traditional games in Lampung. 300 from various provinces, and now from 10 countries around the world I've discovered 300 traditional games. There are plenty of them. And if we can sort all the games in various provinces in Indonesia it can be up to thousands. So it seems that we're a country that likes to play around. [Audience laughs] Because we always play, there are so many games. These are some of the games i've identified, and i've uncovered their secrets. For example, this is a game called Sondah Mandah, or Engklek, or Picek Baju, or Ingkling and so on. Those are different names for different provinces. I tried to find out the meaning of Sondah Mandah everywhere. When i found what it meant, I was reading the Dutch dictionary, there it was, Sondah Mandah, "Sunday, Monday". Why Sunday Monday? I tried to find out more about it. Why Sunday Monday? What i found was that apparently there are 7 boxes, And those 7 boxes symbolizes. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And then, i found an exact game in Brazil. There it's called Amarilinha, exactly the same, "from earth to heaven" So the first boxes were "earth" The last final sphere was "heaven". So from earth to heaven. so, when children start jumping, they start on Monday. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and so on, and back again. But this time, they cover their eyes, and so forth. So what does it teach children? It teaches them that hardworking is important every day. Every day, work hard, lift the leg on Monday, then Tuesday, then on wednesday they hold something, covering their eyes. hard work. [Audience laughs and claps] What is the result? The result they got a star, "tek". My house is here. There should be no one living here besides me, this is my home. Finally their friends have to jump like this. "Oh their house is way over there", they have to jump farther. They can get up to three homes, some even four. Sometimes, there is one person that never gets a house, So they just jump around throughout the game. Thats exactly like how we are now, if we don't have property, we jump around, rent here, rent there. [Audience laughs] But the most important thing is the point of victory. They must reach the last circle. In that last sphere everyone has a home. they always have a house in heaven. These things does not need to be taught explicitly to children, they understand these things on their own. There are plenty more learnings, for example "Paciwit Ciwit Lutung". Still remember "Injit Injit Semut?" Well it turns out, this is where we learn emotional intelligence. Learning about emotions When our hand is at the bottom, we would look forward to be on top. "Soon i'll be on top, Soon i'll be on top" Once we're at the top, we pinch hard! As it goes down different hands the pinch becomes harder and harder. Until the very last hand at the bottom; which is ours! Here, children learn that when we hurt others, we actually hurt ourselves. They continued to play, Paciwit Ciwit Lutung and there is no ending. They are learning about empathy. For example a game called "Surser" it turns out, after i studied it, The purpose is to developed the connection of our left and right brain. When there is a jump from the left brain, you slide this one, and tap the other. and then another jump; you switch the hands. Try doing it. This will train part of the brain called the Corpus Callosum. So we become better in switching our right and left brains. and our children become more intelligent. There is another game Congklak. All of you must know Congklak? And i searched all over the world for a game like Congklak. It turns out there was Congklak from Africa to America. Only the names are different. There is Pallam Kuzhi. In India In Africa, the Congklak has 30 holes. [Audience laughs] But how do you play that? 30 represents the number of days in each month. So, if we have 7 holes, that means it represents the number of days in each week. So I take from Monday, put one on Monday, one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, one on Friday. Can we put two? No we can't Because we should eat and live sufficiently on that day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday Where does the rest go? We save it in the "barn". Not all of it; even when we save, we can only save one. If not, It will be rotten. Thats why if you walk pass a bank, It smells rotten. [Audience laughs] Then where does the rest go? Where does the rest go? Share it with your friends. But don't even try to put some in others "barn". It means, rather than giving money to a person. Give job opportunities in every occasion instead. This is where kids learn about how to do business. How they practice empathy with each other. How they manage their life's finances. [Audience applauds] There is another game, Gatrik. Still remember Gatrik? Bentrik Aaaaahh .. Bentrik Known as "Patok Lele" in Sumatra. In Kalimantan known as "Tak Kadal". "Patok Babi" in Sulawesi, and others. Even in France, they have Gatrik. Gatrik is how kids learn math. Learning mathematics through games."Tekk". Two steps, four steps, reduce the two-step, equal to four and so on. It can be done easily by children. Not by counting, 4 + 4. Ahhh .. No. Instead, they just play. By playing, they will learn what they need to know in their future life. There is another game, known as Gobak Sodor Gobak Sodor, Gala Asin and so on. I asked someone in a traditional village, "Kampung Naga" I asked, "What is Gobak Sodor?" Apparently Gobak Sodor is "Go back, so dor" "Go back so DOR (***)!" [audience laugh] So they have to run, return, pass through their friends, Go back so .. if they catch you then DOR! (gun) Thats it. So Gobak Sodor is about defense patterns. How people go down the mountain, run back, and shout"Asin!" (salty). They run down the mountain, to the sea, comes back, and shouts, "Asin!" because they have to bring back salt and other things. Thats why when you succesfully return, you shout "Asin" and so on. So, all of this was the concepts developed by our ancestors. How when we play. we are actually learning about the world. How when we live in this world that is round. This is the control, the top as the "control", the middle as the "sensitivity" line, at the bottom, that's the "power". The sublime world, The middle world, the final world; our intention, our word, and our behavior; soul, body, identity; ancestral, nation, "sara"; control, sensitivity, power. [Audience applauds] So, when we elaborate, this is the concept of our ancestors that were served to the children, for them to learn how to live in this round planet. If you don't want to fall, hold on to the One on the top "The Divine". If they let go, they will fall. They will learn that, and their "Microcosm" will accept it. Finally, I started HONG. yes, my community .. HONG Hong, what is "Hong"? Hong is from the magic words that was said before. "Hom pim pah alaihom" What does it mean? My research was about "Hom" as in "hom pim pah" if people were researching about planes, and other things, I was just researching about "hom pim pah". [Audience laughs and clapping] "Hom pim pah alaihom" is .. Hom refers to God. Hom, Om, Hum, Hu, huwa .. The Lord. "Hom pim pah alaihom", from God to God. "Gambreng" is a stong reminder, "hey .. all of you!" "You came from God, and will return to God." that's it. All is done! "You must submit", thats why when kids do the "Hom Pim Pah", they always look submissive. "Hom pim pah alaihom gambreng" [Audience laughs and claps] We also have to be so. We should too, when we enter life, we need to submit ourselves. "Hom pim pah alaihom gambreng", that's it. We don't know whether we will win or lose, we even smile when we lose. Children are brought up that way, to keep smiling when they lose. So, i try to teach this to kids, i teach them to play. Play and play. Then the children teach their friends to play, to play from the leaves, to play from stems of cassava, to play with rocks, and so on. Everybody plays. Their mothers, fathers; I ask them to play along. Even government officials are also playing. [Audience laughs] If theres a celebrity that visits my place, the must play, everyone should play. They need to feel the game. "Sasalimpetan", now i need 5 volunteers to play Sasalimpetan. 5 volunteer for Sasalimpetan. Ok. Sasalimpetan is very unique. This is the song, we have to sing together. The song goes like this, you just have to read. All together! "Sasalimpetan jajahan aing nu panjang, hey.. hey.." "Aki janggotan tumpak kuda heheotan, hey.. hey..", ok all together. One, two, three.. "Sasalimpetan jajahan aing nu panjang, hey.. hey.." "Aki janggotan tumpak kuda heheotan, hey.. hey.." "Sasalimpetan jajahan aing nu panjang, hey.. hey.." "Aki janggotan tumpak kuda heheotan, hey.. hey.." "Sasalimpetan jajahan aing nu panjang, hey.. hey.." "Aki janggotan tumpak kuda heheotan, hey.. hey.." Heeeeyyy .. Ok finished. [Audience applauds] Thank you .. Thank you .. When we play Sasalimpetan, actually we learned about leadership When someone becomes a leader, and every one becomes captives, everyone starts becoming a leader. and lead to free their friends. There was once a kid who wasn't very confident. he played a lot of Sasalimpetan in the community. On day, he invited the mother and father and sang in front of the stage. His mother and father cried and said to me, "thank you my child is cured." "Who said he is sick? Your son is not sick!" Its just that sometimes, we don't give them a chance to be brave. Welcome to the "Pakarangan Ulin" Finally i created a garden where children can play... If all of you came there, i will invite you to play. Nothing else. Invited to play. There are 3 purpose of playing: To know yourself, know nature and to know God. This puppet toy is .. from the stem of cassava. How does the concept of self is taught They begin to get to know water. There are water games. From "Babalonan Sarung" and so on, to get to know the water. Getting to know fire with the game Damar Sewu. Like this one, a wind game, Kolecer and so on. Propellers. Children can easily get to know the wind. lick their index finger, put it up and "oh, its right there". Finally, once they know the wind is from one direction, they fly the kite from another. Now, what do they do? They just try to fly it from everywhere! [Audience laughs] Ofcourse it wouldn't fly, because they do not know the wind. We must know the wind. And then there are rock games. Pepancakan and so on. Finally, i do outreaches to various places, that games are important. Games/toys, are tools to learn basic concepts of human life in the world. Play is very serious. So don't play around! [Audience laughs and claps] I am very serious. I am very serious when it comes to playing. Children, my friends, are very serious when they play. When playing hide and seek, and when they find the "cat", "Hey, I found you!" That's it, they get caught. i play it seriously, they play it seriously. But those who now say that they're serious. are the ones that actually violate all the rules. [Audience applauds] So what or who is more serious? it seems like games are more serious than we are. Moreover, our education system which now refers to the education system of.. ..who knows what it refers to. I have no idea. Mr. Ki Hajar Diwantoro is the father of education in Indonesia. But i am very sad, because none of Mr. Ki Hajar Diwantoro teachings, are being applied now, none. None whatsoever. how to incorporate nature in the learning process, none. how the leveling of Wirasa (feeling), Wirahma (rythm), Wiraga (movement) does not exist, how the concept Taman Siswa, Taman Marja, Taman Brewasa (Gardens of Education), none Its all changed. But still Mr. Ki Hajar Diwantoro is regarded as an education figure, weird right? [Audience laughs] This makes me sad. Thats why i always say to all mothers, to all children. That this is our learning process. This is where we learn. In these traditional games is where we learn. All the games are here, all the concepts of life are here. To prepare for their future. Huizinga said that we are "*** Ludens" species of Play Even here, we are playing. i came in here, you are there, and then we just play. We set the rules, come in at a certain time, come out at a certain time, everybody just agrees, they come in, come out, come in and out. We are just playing. It's just a game. So lets just play. The whole world has games. I've studied it and all the games are similiar. They are almost the same. Even Congklak. In many countries, there Pallam Kuzhi, Owari, Mancala, and so on. Who would have thought that Congklak is everywhere. This Engklek is everywhere. Our strength is here. Indonesia has the most games. So that's why, earlier I told you that my goal is, that every person who that wants to learn about games, comes here (Indonesia) You can go study about computers to Japan or America or wherever. Learn how to make cars, wherever But the whole world should learn about games from us! [Audience applauds]