Buah Cempedak

buah cempedak di luar pagar,
ambil galah tolong jolokkan,
saya budak baru belajar,
kalau salah tolong tunjukkan

Literal Translation

there are jackfruits on the other side of the fence,
take a bamboo stick and please pluck for me,
im still a kid learning,
if i do anything wrong, please show(teach) me

* This is a classic Pantun that most Malaysians would probably know. Its about learning a new thing and not afraid of making mistakes. It shows the 'optimistic' mind of the Malays back then.

The pembayang is probably intended to make the Pantun rhymes. however, its interesting to note that most pembayang consists of objects that could be found in pastoral setting. for example cempedak, pisang, galah and semut.

Ram Ram Pisang

Ram ram pisang,
Pisang Masak layu,
jatuh dalam lubang,
di sambar bapak u

* This is actually a song that i learn when i was a kid. honestly i have no idea what it meant. it only discusses about bananas getting cooked, falling into a hole and getting attacked by a father shark. (malays have this thing about bananas that they keep mentioning it in their songs and pantun)

Sumur di Ladang

kalau ada sumur di ladang,
boleh kita menanam padi,
kalau ada umur yang panjang,
boleh kita berjumpa lagi

Literal Translation

if there are 'sumur' on the field,
we can plant rice paddies,
if we live long enough,
maybe we might meet one day

*sorry, i dont know what 'sumur' means, somekind of plant maybe.

eating and learning

sorong papan tarik papan

buah keranji di atas perahu

suruh makan, dia makan

suruh mengaji ia tak mahu

Literal translation

sorong papan tarik papan- strolling wooden plank, pulling wooden plank
buah keranji di atas perahu- Keranji fruit on top of a boat
suruh makan dia makan- if ordered to eat, he eats
suruh mengaji ia tak mahu- if ordered to learn, he refuses

Interpretation

I think the problem with many youngsters nowadays (or even back then) is that they hate to learn or study new things. but when being asked to eat, they will never refuse. its normal..

Bananas and debt

pisang emas dibawa belayar

simpan sebiji di atas peti

hutang emas boleh dibayar

hutang budi dibawa mati

Literal translation
pisang emas dibawa belayar-sailing along with bananas
simpan sebiji di atas peti- save one(banana) on top of a chest.
hutang emas boleh dibayar- debt in form of gold can always be paid
hutang budi dibawa mati- debt in form of favour will be taken to death.

Interpretation

The message here is clear. Debt can be easily paid if it is in form of money or material. But when it is in form of a favour, malays believed that they are in debt forever.

Jong Jong Inai

jong jong inai

mak ipong raja wali

tersepak tunggul inai

berdarah ibu kaki

Literal translation

jong jong inai - lets go, lets go henna

mak ipong raja wali- mother of ipong is the king of the pious

tersepak tunggul inai- if accidentally kicked a henna stump

berdarah ibu kaki- your foot will bleed

Interpretation

It is important to note that that a pantun usually consists of four lines. the first and second lines are usually meaningless, it is called pembayang which is intended to prepare for the real message. This is to make the pantun rhymes and sounds nice. But this is not always true... old folks have their own way of conveying their real message. We might want to interpret the pembayang because the Malay have this concept of kias, meaning to say something indirectly ( a way of being polite)

On the first line, I still do not understand why anybody would want to invite henna. with the saying 'lets go, lets go henna, we could say that most malays back then practice animisme. Maybe they believed that plants could understand what humans are saying.

I do not know what or who is Ipong. so lets just say that Ipong is someone's name. mak ipong raja wali probably means that Ipong's mother is the king of the pious. This clearly shows that women played a major role in politics and religion in the Malay society back then. This can be seen by the existence of minang culture which is more matriach than other culture in the Malay region.

The third and fourth line could be interpreted as cause and effect. with the kicking of henna stump, there might be a probable chance of our foot to be injured or bleed. This clearly shows that Malays back then are already thinking logically. The foot would not bleed if there is no cause for it to bleed. Maybe this pantun is meant for all of us to understand that for something to happen, there must be a reason or cause for it.

Maybe that is why when something unwanted happen to Malay people, they usually say.. takpe, mesti ada hikmah sebalik kejadian nie ( its ok, there must be a reason why things happen).

Introduction

first of all, i would like to say welcome to Malaysian literature. this blog is created for the purpose of discussing a part of Malaysian Literature that have been left behind by most Malaysian writers. Mostly writers would only write reviews on novels, short stories and poems. what is being left behind is the most important part of Malay or Malaysian literature which is pantun and lagu rakyat( people's songs).

My reviews will only be based on my opinion and my research with friends and old folks. I have lived most of my living years in Malaysia and my mother tongue is in fact bahasa Melayu. so I would assure you that i know my Bahasa Melayu more than i know English itself. so, lets just say that this research is just a point of view of Malaysian literature from a true Malaysian.

different from other literature, Malaysian literature or malay literature is made by common man for common man. if literature from other culture or languages was only made for those of high rank and the riches, Malaysian literature was maybe created and passed down through generations of peasants and common man.

The main problem is that most Malaysian literature was rarely been written down, this causes people to think that pantun and lagu rakyat is not a form of literature. Literature is widely perceived as written artwork or piece. Literature: NOUN: 1. The body of written works of a language, period, or culture. Therefore, most pantun and lagu rakyat still fall in the category of something that is not literature.(but hey, maybe people back then was not 100% literate)

Pantun and lagu rakyat is an important part of Malaysian art and should never be left behind. therefore, the effort to record it should be made by Malaysians themselves. so please contribute your comments if you have any... thank you ..