Until the Permatang Pauh by-election takes place on 26 August, I’ll share with you one or more Penang Hokkien words, both for my personal improvement as well as to be prepared in case Arif Shah and Anwar have a kongsamkok debate in Penang Hokkien ;-)
These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.
Kongsamkok = literally ‘talk 3 kingdoms’ or idle chitchat as in ‘ee larng tua tee kopitiam kongsamkok’ [they were chitchatting about anything, everything and nothing (of importance) in the coffee shop]
Kik kik kok kok = all sorts of things as in ‘ee kong kar kik kik kok kok’ (he/she talked till he covered all sorts of things)
Mm sar mm see = rubbish or nonsense as in ‘ee kong mm sar mm see’ (he/she was talking rubbish)
These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.
Kongsamkok = literally ‘talk 3 kingdoms’ or idle chitchat as in ‘ee larng tua tee kopitiam kongsamkok’ [they were chitchatting about anything, everything and nothing (of importance) in the coffee shop]
Kik kik kok kok = all sorts of things as in ‘ee kong kar kik kik kok kok’ (he/she talked till he covered all sorts of things)
Mm sar mm see = rubbish or nonsense as in ‘ee kong mm sar mm see’ (he/she was talking rubbish)
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Malaysiakini reported PKR to investigate attack on pixmen but Anwar Ibrahim cautioned that those thugs could well be agent provocateurs.
Yes, that’s possible, though PKR security people and Anwar’s bodyguards have a notorious record of unnecessary aggressive behaviour, even towards neutral parties like bystander, supporters or the press.
Malaysiakini also reported in Candidate accuses BN of 'dirty tricks' that Anwar condemned the government of a dirty tricks campaign to disrupt his election prospects in Permatang Pauh. He claimed that the BN had ordered its supporters to heckle him with shouts of ‘sodomy’ and ‘liwat’.
Yes, we know that. Since when have Malaysian politics, especially during election campaigns, ever been without dirty tricks – eg. Chua Soi Lek, Najib, and I have even heard of terrible stuff about Dr M and Vincent Tan.
Then there’s stories about Samy Vellu too, and recently I heard very geli tales of Hishamuddin and Shahrir Samad – wakakaka.
Meanwhile, in the Star Online, Dr Mahathir dares Anwar to swear on the Quran instead of just going around to ceramahs to counter Saiful’s oath-taking on the sodomy allegations.
Dr M admitted that the oath taking would be just a political gesture and not to be taken as legal proof but nonetheless he believed that’s what Anwar, a prominent figure on the Malaysian political scene, should be doing to meet (Muslim) public sentiment.
Now that's challenge and if I were Anwar, I'll just do it to silence the critics once and for all.
Here's another Penang Hokkien word - lahsum = kotor = dirty or salacious, as in 'the campaign in Permatang Pauh has been, is and will be lahsum, the stories I heard about pollies have been lahsum and the personalities involved in those stories (and campaigns) were/are equally lahsum'.
Yes, that’s possible, though PKR security people and Anwar’s bodyguards have a notorious record of unnecessary aggressive behaviour, even towards neutral parties like bystander, supporters or the press.
Malaysiakini also reported in Candidate accuses BN of 'dirty tricks' that Anwar condemned the government of a dirty tricks campaign to disrupt his election prospects in Permatang Pauh. He claimed that the BN had ordered its supporters to heckle him with shouts of ‘sodomy’ and ‘liwat’.
Yes, we know that. Since when have Malaysian politics, especially during election campaigns, ever been without dirty tricks – eg. Chua Soi Lek, Najib, and I have even heard of terrible stuff about Dr M and Vincent Tan.
Then there’s stories about Samy Vellu too, and recently I heard very geli tales of Hishamuddin and Shahrir Samad – wakakaka.
Meanwhile, in the Star Online, Dr Mahathir dares Anwar to swear on the Quran instead of just going around to ceramahs to counter Saiful’s oath-taking on the sodomy allegations.
Dr M admitted that the oath taking would be just a political gesture and not to be taken as legal proof but nonetheless he believed that’s what Anwar, a prominent figure on the Malaysian political scene, should be doing to meet (Muslim) public sentiment.
Now that's challenge and if I were Anwar, I'll just do it to silence the critics once and for all.
Here's another Penang Hokkien word - lahsum = kotor = dirty or salacious, as in 'the campaign in Permatang Pauh has been, is and will be lahsum, the stories I heard about pollies have been lahsum and the personalities involved in those stories (and campaigns) were/are equally lahsum'.
I think I'm going to be fluent in Hokkien before this by-elections in Penang is over.
ReplyDeletestrange(but then totally expected) that you have echoed Mahathir's coomments on swearing. I expect you as another one of those
ReplyDeletetalk a lot one cannot do harmless irritants.
lucky tho you have already emigratred so you can talk even louder. But old man mahathir hasn't yet, even tho he is now being humiliated day and night by his ex-sweeties( are you one of them )?
Crankshaft
ReplyDeleteI'll give you free tuition , guranteed you 'll be able to speak and understand hokkien in two weeks .
Hi People
ReplyDeleteCheck out Anil Netto's website:
anilnetto.com
Phua Kai Lit
As a kid from a Penang family, growing up in Johor, I was quite aware the Hokkien I spoke at home was very different from those spoken by the people in the town (many Hokkien people in North/Central Johor).
ReplyDeleteAs an adult, my later trips to Taiwan and Fujian made me realise that the Hokkien spoken in Johor is more akin to the "common" Hokkien of Fujian in China.
Penang Hokkien is more of a Pidgin language born out of the many years that Penang Chinese have settled there.
I was working for a while in Singapore and even the Hokkien spoken in Singapore was not quite the same as the Penang Hokkien .The Singapore Hokkien is similar to the Johore hokkien . My Singaporean friends used to say that my Penang Hokkien is like singing songs .Ya kitty Penang Hokkien is more of a Pidgin language born out of the many years that Penang Chinese have settled here with a combination of malay words as many were descendants of baba nyonya . My mum's family were baba nyonyas .
ReplyDeleteeg ten cents in Pg we call it chit puat whereas in S'pore its call chit kak . Burn't bread - in Pg its Loti pu , in S'pore its Loti hanng
But sad to say I think my hokkien is going from bad to worse .Lately someone just set up a tuition centre to teach foreigners who came here to stay under MM2H ,hokkien ! maybe I should enroll to refresh my Hokkien .
kittykat46
ReplyDeleteThanks for your concern , my chatukam is always with me .
Some Hokkien-speaking sweeties in KL told me that Penang Hokkien is really sexy - woooOOOooot
ReplyDeleteKTemoc
ReplyDeleteDuring the SARS epidermic , A former minister remarked when in Sabah . He asked the Sabahans what does SARS stand for ? well it means Sabahans Are Really Sexy !!! Penang Hokkien really sexy ? In what way my good friend ?
smoother and less guttural than southern Hokkien, and the way Penang men say it to them, the lingo sounds manja - wakakaka
ReplyDeleteKTemoc
ReplyDeleteWakaka smoother and less guttural like singing ? thats when you are in the mood ! That's the time when the bird on the tree will also come down !
But it can be very rough when there's war on words , when quarreling .
When quarreling, the words used are more colorful, eg. kan ni neh, ham kah chan, eow siu si boh lang tai ect, all of which would make PM Dollah blush with pride
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly there are pockets in Penang where Southern (or Taiwanese/China) Hokkien is spoken, places like Carnavon St and the Beach St area - that's where those curses like ham kah chan (more Canto than Hokkien) and eow siu si boh lang tai ect could be heard, but those people aren't representative of real Penangites like me - wakakaka
ReplyDelete