The Jam - Sept 16 2008

1. EL Jam

The 'Jam' is an informal gathering of musicians to play improvised or unrehearsed music. It's a Jazz noun meaning "short, free improvised passage performed by the whole band" and dates back from 1929, and yielded the idea of a jam session (1933); Most probably, it comes form the word 'jam' (n.), because it was "something sweet, something excellent."




The EL Department had a Jam competition where students took turns picking a topic from a bag. They then had to speak one minute on the given topic. Some topics included 'Hobbies' and 'The best thing about being a teenager'. Interestingly, someone just had to mention 'KNOWING GIRLS' as one of the best thing about being a teenager. I wonder how come 'zits' never figured prominently in the 'jam'.

2. Another Vice-Principal

Mr Simen announced to the school that there was a new Vice-Principal attached to the school. He is Mr Andrew Tan, former Vice-Principal of Meridian Junior College. Mr Tan gave out Sepak Takraw Prizes for the Inter-House Takraw competition.

It was interesting to note that although Sepak Takraw is a game of Malay origins, there were many teams with a good racial mix. Some Chinese students even won the Most Valuable Player award for their teams.

3. The Origins of Sepak Takraw (from http://www.bangkok.com/sport-sepak-takraw/origins-&-history.html)



Sepak and Takraw roughly refer to the kicking, smashing motion the players use to knock the ball around and across the net.

Where sepak takraw originated from remains a matter of intense debate in Southeast Asia, as several countries proudly claim it as their own. Whilst this may never be satisfactorily determined, there is some agreement that the game was introduced to Southeast Asia through commercial contact with China, where an ancient form of the game originated.

It is believed that many variations of the game evolved from an ancient Chinese military exercise, where soldiers would try to keep a feathered shuttlecock airborne by kicking it back and forth between two people. As the sport developed, the animal hide and chicken feathers were eventually replaced by balls made of woven strips of rattan. The first versions of sepak takraw were not so much of a competition, but rather cooperative displays of skill designed to exercise the body, improve dexterity and loosen the limbs after long periods of sitting, standing or working.

The modern version of sepak takraw is fiercely competitive and began taking shape in Thailand almost 200 years ago. In 1829, the Siam Sports Association drafted the first rules for the game. Four years later, the association introduced the volleyball-style net and held the first public contest. Within just a few years, sepak takraw was introduced to the Physical Training curriculum in schools.

In Bangkok, the murals at Wat Phra Kaew (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) depict the Hindu god Hanuman playing sepak takraw in a ring with a troop of fellow monkeys. Other historical accounts also mention the game earlier during the reign of King Naresuan of Ayutthaya. The game became such a cherished local custom that an exhibition of volleyball-style sepak takraw was staged to celebrate the kingdom's first constitution in 1933, the year after Thailand abolished absolute monarchy.

Nowadays, sepak takraw is played on a modified badminton doubles court, with the net standing five feet above the ground. Each team consists of three players; left inside, right inside and back server.

Almost every nation that played this game knew it by a different name. In Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, it's called 'sepak raga', whereas in Thailand it's commonly known as 'takraw'. The same game goes by the name of 'sipa' in the Philippines, 'da cau' in Vietnam, 'rago' in Indonesia, and 'kator' in Laos. Since sepak takraw was played and enjoyed in several countries, there were a lot of inconsistencies in terms of how the game was played and judged.

In 1960, representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Lao and Thailand met in Kuala Lumpur to standardise rules and regulations for the game. And after a long and heated debate, consensus was reached that the sport would henceforth be officially called sepak takraw

They also formed the Asian Sepak Takraw Federation (ASTAF), and translated the rules into English, setting the stage for the first international competition, held in Malaysia in 1965, at the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, or SEAP Games, the predecessor to today's Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). This chain of events set the stage for the international development of sepak takraw. However, it was the replacement of the natural rattan ball, which tended to splinter and warp, with the more standardised synthetic plastic ball that really kicked the game's popularity into high gear.

In 1990, sepak takraw was included at the Asian Games in Beijing. Women also got in on the action with the first women's championships in Thailand hosted in 1997. Today, more than 20 countries have national sepak takraw associations with representatives on the board of the global governing body, the International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF).