Wau kites

The picture is of Encik Ismail bin Jusoh with his hand-made “wau” kite. He is famous for his very pretty wau’s. Indigenous to the people living in Kelantan and Terengganu, these kites are a special craft of West Malaysia. Due to its similarity with the shape of an Arabic letter, these kites are known as "Wau" in Malay. Also when the kites are flown in the sky, it produces a humming sound, which is similar to "wauuuu". So symbolic is the Wau that Malaysian Airlines has even used it as its logo.

Making these kites is a tedious job and requires a great amount of patience. First, bamboo is used to make the frames for the kites, which keeps the kites sturdy and lightweight. Next, motifs are carved out of coloured paper and shiny glazed paper. The intricacy of the carvings is what sets a good kite maker apart from the others. The carvings are then meticulously glued onto the frames. Finally the kite is decorated with bright paper tassels. The motifs on the kites are normally flowers with vines. The flowers represent the man while the vines represent the ladies. After the harvest period, these kites are commonly flown over the paddy fields. This is a break time for all the farmers who had worked hard through the rice-planting season. Ethen sent me this pretty card.