Another traditional fire piston, Endau Rompin, Johor Malaysia; Part I

Tok Ali’s fire piston, handed through generations

‘Saya pernah ajar dia orang sekali, lepas tu dia orang try buat sendiri, tak jadi!’ This was what Tok Ali said to me, referring to the attempts by some tourist guides who tried to demonstrate the use of fire pistons after just one lesson from him. Tok Ali then came and sat with us, holding with him a plastic bag that contains his fire piston.

A local Orang Asal in Endau Rompin directed us to Tok Ali. A rustic and mysterious man, Tok Ali is both a traditional bomoh (medicine man) and a knowledgeable herbalist. As we sat in his house, we can’t help but notice the many interesting things around. There’s a blow pipe, bundles of dried tree leaves and roots, strips of tree barks hanging on the wall and a boring looking aquarium.

Surprisingly, the tinder Tok Ali used is almost identical like the one used by the Semelais. The tinder consists of fibers from a type of fishtail palm, mixed with crushed charred tapioca leaves. As he prepares the fire piston (FP) for a demonstration, we can’t help but notice that he us using wax from a candle to ‘lubricate’ the terap ‘o-ring’. Semelais uses water to swell the seals of their FPs and according to Tok Ali, he believes back then; his people may have used fish oil instead. A few seconds later, Tok Ali already got the first amber going.

The smoldering tinder on Tok Ali’s fire piston

Tok Ali knows how to make FPs but not really keen on making them. It takes too much time and work. He made the one in the picture above from a type of hard wood. I took a look at the piece and noticed that the tolerance between the piston shaft and the hole is quite big but it is still able to work. Impressive really.

There were some kids watching us. Tok Ali’s grandsons and nephews. One of them seems to be very familiar with the FP. Perhaps he is Tok Ali’s protege. He asked for the fire piston and lighted his cigarette with it. As much as we are impressed with his skill in using the FP, we are equally surprised that he is already smoking at such an age!

The boy lighting his cigarette using Tok Ali’s fire piston

To be continued…