JEDDAH: An exciting pop-up board game and cafe are gaining huge popularity among the masses.
The game and the cafe managed to attract huge crowds at various cultural events recently organized or supported by the General Entertainment Authority such as the Saudi heritage event “1351 H,” which took place during Ramadan at Jeddah’s Mersal Village in Jungle Land.
According to Mamdouh Tayeb, the co-creator of the board game “Al-Jalsaa,” it is already being sold at certain shops. He said they participate in cultural events to use them as a platform to introduce their product.
Al-Jalsaa is a social card game based on dialogue, persuasion skills, and attempt to mislead opponents.
Tayeb explained that the social aspect of the game is what creates the excitement.
Around 20 people can play this game at a time, he said. “People like the social nature of the game where 20 or so people don’t know one another but play the game together. This interaction between them makes it all the more exciting.”
“It is for free, anyone can join, and even purchase the game,” he added.
The co-founder explained that the pop-up board game and cafe are very active.
“We do something different every two weeks and collaborate with different people,” Tayeb said.
Tayeb said Al-Jalsaa was launched in the market in January.
“The board game is available at Virgin, Toys R Us, Dokkan Afkar, Challenge round, Dar Ein in Jeddah, and TCG games in Riyadh,” Tayeb said.
“We made our first public appearance in February 2018 and we will continue to take part in several events lined up during the entire year,” he said.
Tayeb explained that Al-Jalsaa’s creation was inspired by older games, but with a new take on them.
“We used to play a similar game for years. We established new game rules, created new characters and created a Saudi brand,” he said.
Tayeb was keen on being authentic and promoting Saudi culture.
“We focused on having the game in Arabic since it is made 100 percent in Saudi Arabia,” said Tayeb.
Al-Jalsaa has another store called Nagnagaa that serve one or two items that are different and very unique, “not the usual like pancakes, waffles or ice cream, I create these recipes and people seem to enjoy them,” said Tayeb. The game’s co-creator said people can visit their website (www.aljalsaa.com) for further details about the game.
Start-up of the Week: Al-Jalsaa – Time to enjoy a Saudi pop-up board game
Start-up of the Week: Al-Jalsaa – Time to enjoy a Saudi pop-up board game
- Al-Jalsaa is a social card game based on dialogue, persuasion skills, and attempt to mislead opponents
- Around 20 people can play this game at a time
Thai officials say 72 tigers at tourist parks died of canine distemper, allaying bird flu fears
- “There has not been an animal-to-human infection case,” Promphat said
- “If we detect any sick persons, we will prepare for a nationwide monitoring measure,” said Khanasawat
BANGKOK: The deaths of 72 tigers in two animal parks for tourists in northern Thailand shouldn’t be a major concern for the public, officials said Tuesday, because they were caused by a virus not known to affect humans, rather than bird flu.
No one has shown any symptoms so far, but authorities were nonetheless monitoring the health of people who had recently come into contact with the animals.
“There has not been an animal-to-human infection case,” Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said at a news conference at Government House in Bangkok.
The tigers in the parks in Mae Taeng and Mae Rim districts in Chiang Mai province became sick and died during a roughly 10-day period between Feb. 8-18.
On Friday, the Chiang Mai regional livestock office announced in a statement that autopsies of the animals found genetic material of canine distemper virus, or CDV, and traces of bacterial infection, but no avian influenza type A virus, also known as bird flu.
“If we detect any sick persons, we will prepare for a nationwide monitoring measure,” said Monthien Khanasawat, director-general of the Public Health Ministry’s Disease Control Department. “This will include contact tracing and treatment as necessary.”
Monthien spoke at the news conference in an apparent effort to reassure the public that the tigers’ deaths didn’t come from bird flu, which has been resurgent in parts of Asia. Thailand saw 17 deaths among 25 infected patients from poultry-caused influenza from 2004 to 2007, according to the Public Health Ministry.
CDV, infectious for both dogs and felines, can cause stronger symptoms in cats and tigers and can be spread through bodily fluids and air. Thai authorities said that tigers in confined environments, and which are already affected by stress and inbreeding conditions, could be particularly vulnerable to the viral infection.
The remains of the tigers went through necropsies before being cremated and buried. The carcasses were properly disinfected, photographed and discarded to prevent any further use, Livestock Development Department Director-General Somchuan Rattanamangklanan said at the news conference.
But Visit Arsaithamkul, a veterinarian who took part in the tiger necropsies, expressed concern that the origins of the infections remained unclear without further investigation. In a Facebook post, he said that he suspected that as the two parks were located just 30 kilometers (18 miles) apart, the cause of infection could be food the tigers were fed that came from the same source.
He declined to elaborate when contacted by The Associated Press. Both parks, run under the name of Tiger Kingdom, remain closed. The operators didn’t immediately respond when asked for comment.
Thai authorities are still alert for the threat of a bird flu outbreak. Monthien, the Public Health Ministry director, urged Thais to be careful with their consumption of poultry after a man in a neighboring country that he didn’t name was found infected with bird flu.
The first animal-to-human transmission of bird flu was discovered in Hong Kong in 1997 before a pandemic started spreading in Asia in 2003. In Thailand, tens of millions of poultry were exterminated and consumption plunged in fear of getting infected.
