http://peranakan.org.sg/culture/language/chakapan_tersilap-misquoted_babasayings/
Chakapan Tersilap – Misquoted Baba Sayings
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.
