Safra and me innovate an old kid’s game when we were back in Kuala Kangsar. Do you remember Galah Panjang or Aci Kejar? The main elements to these games are there are a pursuer, (in the Malay culture, it can be anything from an old tiger that knows how to tell time to persistent policeman or crocodiles) and of course the pursued would or could be three to four annoying squealing kids who more often than not, are fast enough to ran away from the pursuer all the time. In our version, I get to be the ferocious hungry crocodile and Safra with her auntie were the pitiful chickens.
“No, ibu. Not chickens, I am a cat,” Alright, I told her, she could be a cat for now. So, it is basically a game where me, the huge over weight crocodile, would be stretching myself between the sofa and the arm chair in the living room and Safra the so called “cat” with her auntie would attempt to escape from me and run across to the television cabinet which in this game is their “safe house”. The game went on for a while with me, pretending to be too sloppy and slow to catch any of them. Until at one point, where I almost pull her left foot, Safra the cat, sensed herself in danger. As I was just about to catch her again, she stopped me with her toughest 4-year old voice. She actually called for a negotiation. “Okay ibu, macam ni lah kita main ( let’s play it this way). Afa pun jadi buaya dengan ibu, pastu kita tangkap Ida.( I also become a crocodile and we pursue Aunt Ida together).
I just laughed in disbelief. Smart kid! If you can’t beat them, just join them, right, Safra?
