Malaysia is a land of many cultures and traditions. Over the years, many traditional games took its form. One of the favorites has got to be the gasing. A direct translation of gasing from the Malay language to English literally means, "tops". The spinning of tops is a very popular traditional game especially amongst the villagers in the state of Kelantan and Terengganu. Each season after the rice harvest, several villagers will come together to challenge each other in an ultimate test of skills. It is also during this time that you'll find many people, tourists and supporters alike, coming to the villages by the busload to cheer for their representatives.

A top-spinning contest is basically a friendly game. In the "spinning contest", the one who can spin his top for the longest time wins the match. Once the top has been launched, the top is carefully scooped off the ground using a thin wooden bat. It will then be transferred to a little wooden post with a metal surface and left to spin for as long as possible. The trick here is to ensure that the top doesn't topple during the transit. Tough as it may seem and unbelievably so, the current record stands at two hours!

The making of a good top begins with the selection of a fine piece of hardwood. In Kelantan and Terengganu, a few species are normally used. Even then, only the base and upper roots or the portion where a branch joins the trunk are acceptable.

The wood takes a few weeks to dry naturally. It is then shaped into a discus. For the metal top, the edge has to accurately grooved in order to have a good grip of the metal rim. A good top requires perfect symmetry which is an important attribute to longer spinning time. From start to finish, a good giant metallic top might need four to six weeks to complete.

You can bid here on an original gasing from Kelantan, a State along the eastcoast of Malaysia.

The top is from my personal collection and has only been used once to see whether it spins the way it should. I had it  custom-made for myself from a combination of local hardwood and tin.

A competition-sized gasing is about 8" (about 20 cm)in diameter and weighs around 2.7 kgs. Not everybody is strong enough, to get a top of this size spinning.

Up for auction is a gasing with an diameter of about 4" and a weight of around 0.5 kg. This makes this gasing ideal to be used by women or kids.

It will of course spin not as long as one of the bigger gasing, because of its lower weight.

Makes a nice decorational item.

For sale in this auction is just the gasing.

The smallprint...