Meriam Buluh!!

KAA-BOOOOM, goes the artillery. Meriam buluh (literally translated as bamboo canon) is probably endemic to our country, as I never heard people from neighboring country to play meriam buluh during raya puasa celebration. Meriam buluh is usually played during night time throughout the month of ramadhan. In certain places, this ear drum shattering device is played from ramdhan until hari raya puasa. Meriam buluh, as the name implies, is made from bamboo, preferably mide-sized lower part of bamboo to ensure the bamboo is thick enough to withstand explosions. Once cut to desired length, the inner part is cored and cleaned to ensure no debris or bamboo segment left inside. A small hole will be bored at the top of one end to serve as ignition chamber. In some parts of remote village, meriam buluh is dipped into seawater for few days to reinforce the outer part of the cannon to reduce the risk of shattering the cannon ignition. The loud booming sound of meriam buluh is achieved by mixing carbide with water, causing a gas to build up in the chamber and explode on in contact with fire (by a torch made by a stick wrapped by old cloth and soaked with kerosene). Guys, meriam buluh is fun game but you all might need to be extra careful because it might be exploded to pieces and injure nearby standers. So make sure nobody is near meriam buluh during the blast. Playing meriam buluh in the old days were pretty much like battle between neighboring communities.  Whoever blast the loudest wins. But meriam buluh is rarely played in the city and town due to difficulty to get the main resource, bomboo. Although it is not safe playing meriam buluh, we should keep it last forever since it is one of the tradition in celebrating eidulfitr. Till we meet again guys. KA-BOOOM!