Colourful enough to be part of home deco, light enough to fly up in the sky. Wow, let’s go out and fly
a wau.

Imagine a nice breezy day by the beach, where adults balance traditional kites or wau up in the sky while children look at them with awe. This scene is typical in the east coast states of Terengganu and Kelantan during the month of May. Most villagers there will celebrate the end of the paddy harvest season with this activity. It is also about this time that the northeast monsoon provides favourable winds for kite flying.

An average wau is around a meter wide, but there are kites as wide as six meters, from wing tip to tip. Intricate ones are usually used as interior decorations, but that is not to say the other wau are plain. Stylised motifs are usually taken from cloud patterns, architectural wood carvings, local vegetation and the floral borders of batik fabric. There are a few types of wau, such as wau bulan (moon kite), wau kucing (cat kite), wau merak (peacock kite) and wau jala budi (woman kite).

These kites are usually flown by a two-man team, a jurutarik (master puller or flier) and a juruanjung (master high-holder or launching assistant). Usually, in contests, the string’s length must be 150meters. The juruanjung will carry the kite to the launch area and holds it aloft. At the sound of the buzzer, the kite is released. While the jurutarik controls the flight, the juruanjung has to stand by in case of a crash – which incurs a small penalty – to relaunch the kite. Most often, 30 percent of the score is based on the beauty of the design, 40 percent on the angle of flight (the closer to vertical, the higher the score), 20 percent on the kite’s airborne stability, and 10 percent on the music of the kite.

The soft drone that accompanies the flight of these kites come from a bow that is fastened to the kite’s neck. Once airborne, this bow resonates in the wind to produce a melodious, humming note. The volume and pitch rises with the speed of the wind.

Kite bows are originally strung with a dried palm leaf called daun pokok mulung, but today, most kite makers prefer either 16mm acetate movie film or for the most refined sounds, industrial plastic pallet-strapping that has been shaved thin with the edge of a piece of window glass.

Even though it is internationally acknowledged as an art form and traditional game, wau-making is actually a dying art. Not many young folks these days know the perfect craft of making these beautiful kites. But many efforts are being made to keep this stunning craft aloft.