THE LIAW GAME - BIDAYUH COMMUNITY IN SARAWAK

Back then, Liaw was a game played in their spare time by the Bidayuh Singai children in Sarawak.  The main items of this game are two flattened bottle caps, shaped into a coin.  One is a bigger bottle cap used for throwing, which the players call the ‘head’.

The game is played in groups of three to five, subject to the suitability of the venue and preference of the players. To start the game, a square, whose size is decided by the players, is drawn on the field or ground. Then a straight line is drawn close to the square to mark the position of the players to throw their own bottle caps into the square. 

When everyone agrees to end the game, then only the winner is decided by counting the number of bottle caps collected by each player.  The winner is the one who collects the most bottle caps.   

Translated by Megawati Omar, PhD