Today is National Sarong Day. 10 things you might not know about the garment.
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A sarong is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist.
The word comes from the Malay language and means 'to cover' or 'to sheath'. It was first used in 1834 referring to the skirt-like garment of the Malays.
There’s a similar word in the African Akan language, which means "the highest point", because the garment is fastened at the very top in order to secure it.
The sarong may go under different names depending where in the world you are. In southern India, sarongs are better known as mundus. These tend to be less colourful than those from Southeast Asia and worn for religious and ceremonial purposes. In East Africa, sarongs worn by men are referred to as kangas. The sarongs worn by the women are known as kikois.
Malay men wear sarongs with a checked pattern only when attending Friday prayers at the mosque. The songket—a type of sarong embroidered with gold and silver thread—is reserved for special ceremonies such as weddings.
In East Sumba, Indonesia, only royalty were allowed to wear bright-coloured and intricate fabrics. Ordinary people were restricted to one or two colours and plain patterns.
In colonial times there were strict rules about who could wear them. Local people were ordered to wear them in the Dutch East Indies, while the lady colonists were banned from wearing them, at least in public, because it implied that they had “gone native”. Hence sarongs were a tool to reinforce the social hierarchy. Some Dutch women still wore them at home due for ease of movement and suitability to the tropical climate. They made their own, using European designs and fabrics, which became so desirable as exotic goods that they were even exported and sold back at home.
Christian moralists would claim the garment was too revealing and the fabric too thin, and was essentially a petticoat, and had to be worn with a long skirt.
In India and Burma, it is actually possible to hold back forces of soldiers or police with a washing line of sarongs. Men there believe that passing under such a line would emasculate them and make them more feminine, so such forces could be stopped just by hanging sarongs on a line across a road.
In western society today, a sarong is typically worn over swimwear in hot or humid locations.
A Very Variant Christmas
Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.
The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?
Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.
Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.
Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.
Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.
Themes Christmas; superheroes; reunions; parties; life choices; shocking surprises; mistaken identity; kidnap and rescue.
Reasons not to read it
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
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