More light on Hantum Bola.

Additional Light on the Game of hantum bola

Victor Neo points out that another version of hantum bola which he used to play is as follows. Players would make a series of depressions in the ground in front of them. They would take turns to roll or throw the ball. Woe betide the person whose depression the ball landed in because the thrower would run up, picked up the ball and "hantum" (i.e.throw it) the unfortunate victim with it. I remembered seeing this being played. Most people would run away with the thrower in pursuit but a fewer of the braver or more foolhardy souls would charge at the thrower. When this happened, a fight would usually break out.

So indeed as all the writers point out, creativity ruled the day. Given a simple tennis ball many different permutations were possible to entertain us.

Here is the additional informtion that from Victor,

Hi Ban

I have read the post on hantum bola.


Below is a brief description of the game. But there are many variations to the game as played by boys of different groups and areas.


1. The ball we used is normally soft rubber ball which is about the size of the tennis ball.


2. The game is normally played by six to ten boys. Each boy owns a depression and the depressions are dugged near to each other and are within a somewhat circular area.


3. Each boy will have a turn at rolling the ball from a distance away , normally about ten feet away. The rest of the boys will cluster around the circumference of the depressions.


4. When the ball is roll in, each boy will try to see if the ball is coming to his depression. If the ball goes into his depression, the boy will pick the ball from the depression and throw it at one of the other boys who are running away.
My thanks to Victor.