🌳Woodturning | Brunei Spinning Top/ Gasing Top | Gasing Pangkah | Malaysian Spinning Top

Having been seconded to the Royal Brunei Armed Forces many years ago I encountered the sport of “gasing”, which involves teams battling with spinning tops.

This week's YouTube video is about the crafting of a Brunei/Malaysian Spinning Top.

It is claimed that the name gasing was derived from two Malay words; the “ka” from kayu (wood, which the tops are made of) and “sing” from pusing (spin), forming the word kasing. Over time eventually the name gasing was used.

 In Brunei, there are many types of wood. A popular wood that is easy to find is the gasing ambuk. The Top is spun by the experienced just using one hand. In Brunei, here are also a number of wood which can be used as spinning tops. These include buah berangan, biji membangan, buah nyirei and buah pitabu. 

An up-market Spinning Top will have a handle on the rope and a crude finial on the crown. I'm not sure if the finial is there for balance or decoration.

To play this game, there will typically be two teams of four players each, and it is played on a round-shaped playing surface known as the bong. The game begins when four tops from a group are spun on the playing surface and the other team members would try to strike each of these spinning tops with their own gasing. 

The team that has the most number of spinning tops on the bong would be declared the winner but if the equal number from each team is still spinning, then the longest spinning gasing would be named the winner. 

Today, gasing pelajau (Gasing Pangkah) still continues to be played by certain segments of Brunei’s ethnic communities. It continued to be played in villages near Sungai Limau Manis.

Not having any of the traditional Brunei woods available, I turned to the best wood I had available, which was some kind of red cedar. I had to colour it with Ruby and Honey from the Hampshire Sheen range of Intrinsic Colours to get a good match for local hardwoods.

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Видео 🌳Woodturning | Brunei Spinning Top/ Gasing Top | Gasing Pangkah | Malaysian Spinning Top канала William Hunt