INNOVATIONS

In his latest blog entry, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s wrote that Malaysians must take risks in efforts to become innovative and that they should explore new avenues rather than follow the tracks of others.
His statement reminded me of the meriam buloh or bamboo cannon.
This, to me, is the perfect example of the innovativeness of Malaysians, especially the Malays, and the risks they take to make the homemade firecracker better.
The meriam buloh comprised a piece of bamboo (like those used to make lemang or larger in size), calcium carbide, water and fire.
I haven’t googled enough to find out when it first started, who first made it or whether it is still being played now. I found out through Wikipedia however that it is played here and also the Philippines. You can google for the image or find on youtube a video of one.
What I know of the meriam buloh is from the memory of my own mother, who remembered playing the meriam buloh when she was growing up in Muar and Batu Pahat circa 1950s.
Back then, it could possibly be cheaper to make their own firecrackers than buying them. Calcium carbide was probably readily available at home because it was used in headlights on hats and bicycles back then.
But the meriam buloh is no ordinary firecracker. The louder the sound, the better it was.
And boys being boys (while the girls were the spectators), they find ways and means to make it better and louder.
From bamboo, my mother remembered her friends looking for metal pipes. “Lagi kuat bunyi (it would make a louder sound),” she said.
You add water to the calcium carbide and the chemical reaction produces a kind of gas called acetylene, which when introduced to flame can cause an explosion.
And with metal pipes, the sound of the explosion can be heard as far as the neighbouring village, my mother said.
Bamboo cannons may no longer be played in villages (well, maybe those in remote areas) but this does not stop the teenagers from being creative and innovative.
This time, you’ll find that they will modify the store-bought firecrackers.
Every festive seasons especially Hari Raya, we read about children, especially the Malays, losing their fingers, if not their lives, when playing with firecrackers.
They are McGyvers in each and every one of us actually! LOL!
I’m pretty sure there are other quirky stories on Malaysians’ creativity and innovativeness. Look hard enough, you’ll find them.
And if there’s one machine I want a Malaysian or anyone to create is one that folds clothes after it have come out of the dryer. Better still, why not a three in one … wash, dry and fold?
To the housewife, folding clothes is the hardest chore of all.
Although I have a washing machine at home, the thought of folding clothes has deterred me from doing my own laundry. I sent them out and they are returned to me nicely folded.
And I would not be the only one indebted to this particular inventor, be him/her a Malaysian or other nationality, but I am pretty sure he’ll get accolades from women, and also men, the world over!