Who stole the cookie?

I was telling Angie the other evening about a call and answer game I learnt at primary school in Malaysia. It was an English school (as opposed to a national Malaysian school) where there were many ex-pat kids from the UK, Continental Europe and the US. We would sit in a circle and each have a number. We would clap and click our fingers in rhythm, calling and answering:

~ Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

~ No. 4 stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

~ Who me?

~ Yes, you.

~ Couldn’t be.

~ Then who?

~ No. 1 stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

Angie cried that they played a similar game in South Africa. But the back story had a different, much more saucy twist:

~ Who stole the kisses from the girl next door?

Isn’t it weird how the exact same game can be reinvented on different continents? I want to know who made this chant up - and who changed it for the different countries. It’s the same curiosity that makes me want to know who makes up playground rhymes and games - and how they get made up - and also why some catch on and last for generations and some don’t get picked up at all.

Is the version I learnt the version without physical intimacy specially tailored for Asia? (In Malaysia, you can get arrested for public demonstrations of affection). Or is the version in South Africa liberalised for that particular society? Are there other versions? What do they say? I would love for someone to share their views.