{"id":5952,"date":"2014-07-30T00:44:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T16:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=5952"},"modified":"2014-07-30T00:49:15","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T16:49:15","slug":"boom-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=5952","title":{"rendered":"Boom Boom !!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end of Ramadan, the fasting month,\u00a0is a religious holiday, celebrated\u00a0by Muslims all over the world. In Malaysia it is called Hari Raya Aidilfitri, often shortened to Hari Raya\u00a0which is Malay for\u00a0Celebration Day. Traditionally all Muslims go back to their hometown (“balik kampung”),\u00a0but as it is a public holiday, also non-Muslims\u00a0often do the same.<\/p>\n

This year we went back to Aric’s hometown, Parit Baru. This part of Selangor\u00a0is\u00a0rural and very Malay.\u00a0It is a tradition that with Hari Raya, the driveways and boundaries of farmhouses are decorated with small oil lamps, very romantic and peaceful.<\/p>\n

Another tradition, less peaceful, actually extremely noisy, is\u00a0the firing of the “meriam kelapa”, which translates as”coconut cannon” Before you reach Parit Baru, you will see this, near the mosque: \"Meriam<\/a> These medieval looking contraptions are made of a coconut tree trunk, sawed in two halves, which are hollowed out and then tied together again. Not an easy job!<\/p>\n

The resulting “cannon” is tilted upward, and a mixture of carbid and water is put inside the hollow trunk. Carbid (calcium carbide) reacts with water, forming acetylene which is flammable and highly explosive. The acetylene vapor is heavier than air and fills the hollow trunk. When it is ignited through a small hole at the bottom of the trunk, a major explosion occurs.<\/p>\n

In the right picture the remains of old meriams, the left picture shows\u00a0a new one.<\/p>\n

\"Meriam<\/a> \"Old<\/a><\/p>\n

In the night we went out to see them in action. You will find these cannons\u00a0\u00a0all over the place, just follow the direction where the “boom” comes from. Not far from Aric’s house we noticed men preparing three of them.<\/p>\n\n\t\t