http://peranakan.org.sg/culture/language/chakapan_tersilap-misquoted_babasayings/
FELIX CHIA
(Extracted from June-September 2003 Issue of The Peranakan
newsletter)
Felix Chia re-examines some famous Baba Malay idioms and suggest
some humourous alternatives of his own…
Here is a collection of Baba Malay sayings deliberately and
deliciously “decapitated” by me. It is hoped that the English
translation will also raise a chuckle, just as the “native”
quotations will, I am certain, bring about laughter among those who
speak and understand the unique patois of the Babas. I say this
because the essence is always embedded in the original tongue, and
translations often fall short of complete appreciation of the
meaning. However, be that as it may, I shall endeavor not to
short-change the non-speakers of Baba Malay by trying to make them
laugh just as heartily.
Most Babas, if not all, are supreme fatalists. Often is heard,
“Janji
sa-chupak tak sa-gantang.” The simplistic meaning is of
course, “Fate”. I prefer to translate in depth as it is more
illuminating. Dissecting the saying, the old and the wise of
yesteryears cautioned the naïve that if one is allotted in life
a chupak a
measure of capacity about the contents of half a coconut shell,
then no one should expect a gantang which
is four times that of a chupak.
So in a nutshell it simply means “Fate”.
Consider my other side of the saying. “Kalu
tak ah kledek, makan lah ubi kayu!” If there is no sweet
potato, then satisfy yourself with tapioca!
“Loyar
Burok!” someone will cry. The meaning is far from “Ugly
Lawyer.” It is meant to be a compliment, as another will
add, “Kalu
loyar tak burok, apa macham mo menang case?” The
compliment is that if the lawyer is not burok,how
is he to win the case? Burok simply
means to be as talkative as can be, long-winded and decisively cut
and thrust.
Would it not be fun to see “Loyar
Burok kawin Dokto Chantek”? The ugly lawyer marries the pretty
doctor.
In describing a place that is deserted and is in the middle of
nowhere, one can hear, “Ala!
Jin buang anak mia tumpat!”
The exclamation means “Oh! The place where genies abandoned their
babies.” I wonder if it were true that genies abandoned their
babies. If so, how then did future genies come about?
A more appropriate saying would be “jin
piara anak mia tumpat” or “the place where genies raise their
young”. This would make better sense, as a deserted place in the
middle of nowhere is an ideal location to keep away the inquisitive
and prying eyes of the humans,
Two feisty Nonyas were confronting and quarrelling with each other.
One shouted, “Lu
pikay gua takot lu yah?” “You think I’m afraid of you, eh?”
She then continued, “Lu
chilli, gua bawang!” “You’re chilli, I’m onion!” The
utterances were typical tirades that imply one is a match for the
other, as both the chilli and the onion are equally pungent and are
capable of “burning” the tongue.
I see the reverse of the coin in the saying. Tsk… tsk… Nonyas. Why
show off that you are a match for the other? Surely in the busy
confines of the kitchen, there are spices galore. Why then should
you both not make use of the chilli and onion to fry a tasty dish
of ikan goring chilli and onion, and not forgetting a pinch of salt
for enhanced taste. “Goreng
lah ikan chilli bawang.”
“Lu
ada chay it, Gua ada chap goh!” is a rebuke for revenge. That
is to say that do what you want on the first day of the month (chay
it) and I’ll have my day on the 15th (chap
goh).
The first and last days of the month must have inspired this
quotation. But to wait fourteen days for revenge is somewhat risky
after you have made known your intention to get even!
A witty Baba while dining at a pok piah party reminded his host not
to apply too much chilli in his roll. “Lida
guan anti bertandak,” he cried out. “My tongue will dance.” I
was wondering though whether his tongue would perform either the
Lindy Hop or the Line Dance. Perhaps both, I thought to myself. A
note about the pok piah: I know that this delicious fare is
generally termed popiah. This, in fact, is the pronunciation of
Chinese stall holders, which had been spelt as such. Babas, I
am sure, will emphasise the ‘k’.
The same witty one once remarked, “pok piah terlanjang”, when he
saw the filling being wrapped in salad and eaten without the skin.
A conservative Nonya in the midst corrected him and said,
“pok
piah”.
“N’koh
gua sama gua sudah asam kelat,” said a friend to me. “My elder
brother is very peeved with me.” As asam besides being the word for
tamarind is also term for “sour”, and kelat means
astringent taste or astringent behaviour, the combination of the
two keywords conjure up a definitive feeling of sheet peevishness.
It could well breach the ceiling of utter disgust.
“Rupa
dia macham Si Goma!” I used to hear elders say. “His looks are
those of Si
Goma!” I used to hear elders say. “His looks are those
of Si
Goma!” who or whatSi
Goma was I could not tell. But I remember that there was
a Malay movie that had a character by that name, and he must have
been very ugly. Hence the audience applied the name to those whom
they disliked or were angry with.
I would have preferred “Si
Goma in a coma!”
The next thing could be the talk among well informed Babas and
Nonyas. One of the trio- two Babas and a Nonya recalled what an
elder said about a very tasty and special fare. “Wah!
Moyang kueh bakol” expressed the supreme satisfaction of a
delicious dish. The first Baba opined that this saying could have
two different meanings- “Ancestor cake in a basket” is its word for
word translation. The cake in a basket is in reality the Lunar New
Year cake, or nian-gao in
Mandarin. Made of glutinous rice and brown sugar and packed in
leaves in the shape of a basket, it is an offering for worship
throughout the fifteen days of the celebration of the Lunar New
Year. For want of a better term, the Babas called itkueh
bakol.
The first meaning, continued the speaker, “could stand for ancestor
of the basket cake.” The nuance behind it is similar to labeling it
“The Mother of Basket Cakes”.
The second Baba reasoned that as Babas are notoriously known for
their bad pronunciation of Chinese words, maintained that the
word moyang could
well be ngoh hiang, a sort of fried sausage dished out by the
Teochews. As such, he thought, could it be that if one eats the
fried sausage with the kueh
bakol, could it not produce “the Mother of Delicious Feasting
“? The Nonya agreed with him, but the first Baba insisted that his
meaning was the correct one.
I, the second Baba, promised myself that when the kueh
bakol is around again, I would like to try and eat it
with ngoh hiang! May the good lord help me if things should go
wrong. I would now like to review the sayings I had written in The
Babas and in Ala
Sayang. Very much like what I have written earlier about
the original quotes being bland, here too I feel the sayings must
be peppered with spices and all things nice, by presenting them
with alternative and hopefully hilarious meanings.
Semot kaki panjang or “long legged ant” is not the
Nonya’s observation of the insects’ DNA. The saying or criticism
simply means that one is perhaps too fond of outings. If the above
is accepted, perhaps “semot
kaki pendek” or “short legged ant” should describe home
stickers- or to be up to date- people who are quarantined at
home.
Jalan kaki, jalan duit. Go out and your money goes out with
you- an astute observation that you will spend when you go out.
This I believe should correctly refer only to the semot
kaki panjang.
“Poket
demam!” A Baba in financial distress might just utter these
words of despair. He was declaring that his pocket had a fever.
I supposed it was better, for if he himself had a body temperature
of 38°c, Tan Tock Seng Hospital would be waiting for him. Nonyas
are witty and feisty and are fond of innuendos. A classic example
is when they call a baby boy pisang-
banana. His sister would be labeled the apong balek or a folded
pancake.
I wonder what the pisang will
be named when he grows up and turns out to be a transvestite.
Perhaps he will be known as a pisang
apong balek!
A pregnant woman would be called So pukol
tumbol by a Nonya- “the drummer” that is. Other might
label her Si
perot bisol- “the one with a boil on the stomach”.
Would it not be fun to surmise that the drummer has a boil on her
stomach? Si
pukol tumbol ada bisol kat perot dia.
Now that I have had my say I hope to jumpa
lagi (see you again). If not, I sincerely hope that
readers enjoyed reading through the distorted Baba Malay saying
through the distorted Baba Malay saying just as I enjoyed writing
them.