Di Bawah Rang Ikang Kering

THE BOOK IS READY!

2009-11-08T12:32:00.009+08:00

Saturday was pretty hectic for me. I had to be in IPTAR. Angkasapuri from 8.30 am to 1 in the afternoon to enlighten my fellow-veterans on the workings of the Internet, how to use the browser, set up and use an email account and other stuffs that you now take for granted. Alhamdullillah everyone was successful at doing what was planned except one friend who gave up temporarily. Google Mail refused to register him in spite of half the class extending help and encouragement. Razally, who volunteered to help me with the class wanted to learn how to download torrents. He followed me home to take down some necessary urls and fielded some questions.

At 2.30 pm I caught a cab to get to the Marriot, Bukit Bintang for the food tasting in preparation of the launch of Kulit Manis: A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage. When asked to take the Smart Tunnel, the cabbie shook his head, telling me that it would be too expensive. I was too harried to argue. We got stuck at the Dewan Bahasa junction for more than 20 minutes. Later we discovered a row of Traffic policemen blocking off Jalan Hang Tuah and we had to detour towards Jalan Loke Yew. I arrived at the hotel past the appointed time and the fare was RM22. Like some unmarried ladies, I hate to be late. After some profuse apologies, I got to taste the food and more importantly, finally got Kulit Manis: A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage in my hands. Even after already perusing the unbound pages, the finished book awed me. It is a book worth having. The recipes alone (all 88 of them) will be worth the price of the book (RM 250 per copy). How good are the recipes? Let me tell you. The chefs from Marriot were picking To' Puan Rosita's brain during and after the food tasting. Copious notes were taken. Everyone wants to make sure that the food served during the launch lunch is as authentic and as Terengganu as the Api Lat atop Bukit Puteri as possible. I chose the nasi dagang that To' Puan Rosita cooked as my late lunch that day. I think the Marriot chefs preferred that too. They persuaded To' Puan Rosita to cook some selected recipes from the book at the Marriot so that the chef can watch and learn.

The official launch will be at the Marriot on the 20th of December. There will also be a bazaar of Terengganu stuffs throughout the whole day. Do come and do spread the word.

For those attending the Monsoon Cup (2nd to 6th December), there will be a photo exhibition and the preview of the book open to the public for the duration of the Monsoon Cup, not just on the 6th as previously posted. You can buy a copy of the book at a discount of 10%. The books will be available in selected bookstores soon. If you cannot wait, send me an email and I will tell you how to get this one of a kind, collector's item book and at the same time lend a helping hand to Yayasan Prihatin, a charity worth contributing to.

KULIT MANIS- AN UPDATE

2009-11-04T10:53:00.004+08:00

A few of us lucky ones had the privilege of eyeballing the complete pages of Kulit Manis: A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage last week. The pages were not cut nor bound yet. Neither were they uv-coated like they would be in the finished book. They were impressive nonetheless. It would be worth the wait.

The good news is you do not have to wait long. If you are in Kuala Terengganu for the Monsoon Cup, look out for the preview of the book on the last day. Watch this space for details. If you are not into monsoons or boat races, fret not. The official launch is slated for 20th December at the Marriot, Kuala Lumpur. A day-long bazaar of Terengganu stuffs is planned in conjunction with the launch lunch. Awang Goneng and Kak Teh's fans have a good chance of meeting this illustrious couple at the launch, insyaAllah.

Kulit Manis: A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage would not have seen the light of the day without the generosity of Yayasan Prihatin (Caring Foundation) and a number of corporate donors who, together, provided the major part of the seed money to get the book off the dream stage. Even the book designer and the printer, knowing that the book is done for a charitable cause slashed their bills to the bare bones. Those involved in the book would like you to be as generous as those before you. Let the spirit of Christmas move you to buy several copies of the book as presents. The needy school children under Yayasan Prihatin will greatly appreciate your gesture.

TERENGGANU BREAKFAST- PULUT

2009-10-21T11:30:00.006+08:00

In spite of the high uric acid content, pulut or glutinous rice (sticky rice to some) features prominently in the life of Terengganu folks. Villagers in Terengganu, when going to a kenduri or a big feast will say they are going to "makan pulut". Probably this is because most of the time there will be pulut kuning, known in Terengganu as nasi kunyit featured prominently at the the do. If it is a wedding and there is a bersilat (the Malay art of self-defence) in the program, chances are the silat will be silat pulut (show silat) where nobody gets hurt. More so if it is a solo silat exponent.
In Terengganu, pulut is never masak (cooked). It is always tanok. The subtleties escaped me but rest assured that all pulut are well-cooked and sticky.

For breakfast, I can remember two kinds of pulut: pulut tawo (plain unsweetened glutinous rice) and pulut cawan. Pulut cawan, as you can see from the picture above which I stole from Am-flora's blog, is a catering manager's delight. The serving is somewhat uniform as if scooped using a cup (cawan). The pulut in the picture is from Johor and the topping is serunding. Pulut cawan in Terengganu usually has beras goreng (toasted rice) or sambal ikan (grated fish floss) on top .
Both pulut cawan and pulut tawo might have grated coconut on them too and then they have a new name: pulut gaol nyo. Sometimes they are eaten with ikang singgang goreng or ikang kering.
Over at the Thai border towns, where pulut is cheaper, the pulut is sold in a very generous portion (almost twice the size of Terengganu's nasi dagang packet) and eaten with fried chicken. This would lead to extreme drowsiness and the eater is advised not handle heavy machineries for the next six hours.

YANG BERHORMAT WEH

2009-10-04T12:16:00.004+08:00

Hari Ning saya baca dalam suratkabo,kerajaang Teganung boleh jadi takmboh ato doh budok budok belajo ke Indonesia. Gamoknya pasa gepa buming baru-baru ning lah. Exco berkenaan kata nok ato budok-budok ke Poland atau Hungary. Orang di Poland tu kita panggil Poles ke Poleh?
Pok Od dang Pok Li dok berapa setuju. "Indonesia ni dekat sikit. Kalu ada sakit demang senang sikit gi mari. Naik Firefly pong buleh."
Pok Od tamboh "Musiboh ning, duwana pong ada.Lagi pong bukang ari-ari"
Pok Li setuju. "Lagi pong, penyakit orang Indonesia lebih kurang sama dengang penyakit orang Teganung. Puru, demang kura, kudih gata dang laing laing nye. Yang tadoknya nyakit Nok Ganyang Malaysia je. Penyakit orang-orang di Poland dan Hungary lain sikit. Maklumlah negeri sejuk bukan negeri teropika."

Pok Li kata "Jauhnya!"

Pok Od kata "Kohor dekat kohor muroh"
Pok Li kata "Sungguhti Od. kat Poland nung nak cari nasik pong susoh. Toksoh kata nok cari Nasik Padang macang di keda Nazar"

TERENGGANU BREAKFAST- NASI KAPIT

2009-09-26T16:01:00.009+08:00

While going through the proof of "Kayu Manis - A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage", I was reminded of the breakfast fares far removed from those offered by McDonald or La Bodega. McDonald finally arrived in Kuala Terengganu recently and ordinary Terengganu folks have no inkling of what or where La Bodega is.

The forthcoming coffee-table book wrote about nasi kapit, pulut chawan, ketupat sebutir, tepung kapor and other dishes Terengganu folks eat for breakfast besides nasi dagang and later, roti Pulau Kambing.

Nasi kapit, or to the non-Terengganu people, nasi himpit is also served during Hari Raya. Some satay sellers replaced ketupat nasi with nasi kapit. Soto lovers will also find nasi kapit in their soto.

Nasi kapit is not an instant breakfast although nowadays you might get instant ketupat/nasi himpit from the supermarket. The rice is usually cooked one day earlier then wrapped in a clean muslin cloth before it is compressed by putting a very heavy object on the rice. My mother used her batu giling, the slab of granite that she mashed her spices on. Bookworms might use volumes of their encyclopaedia. Putting heavy mother-in-laws or other hefty relatives are not advised, however willing they are are. The rice is left to be compressed overnight.

Nasi kapit is usually eaten with kuoh kacang (peanut sauce). The sauce is similar to satay sauce although I find satay sauce today too sweet for my liking. Kuoh kacang takes some doing too. First the peanuts have to fried (without oil). Then the peanuts are broken into small bits by pounding them in a mortar or if you prefer the modern style, run them through a mixer/chopper. Then it is cooked with other ingredients like chilly, water, salt and a judicious amount of sugar.

Although nasi kapit and peanut sauce would be breakfast enough for a Terengganu person, some would like to heighten the experience by adding sambal daging (meat floss), sambal ikan or serondeng. Sadly, the best sambal daging is not from Terengganu. I would say that the best sambal daging I have tasted came from Langgar, Kota Bharu.

Those interested to try cooking nasi kapit might want to have a look at this page. Oh, what is ketupat sebutir? You have to wait for the book to come out.

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

2009-09-19T22:55:00.006+08:00

We say goodbye to Ramadhan and welcomes the first day of Syawal. Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar!

To my regular readers and friends

Anak Telosan, ciktu, Puteri Kama, Baines, Awang Goneng and Mek Jarroh, Angelina Jolie in Ozzieland, Mek Yam in Manhattang, Pak Idrus, Pak Zawi, Pak Adib,Joe of Kuala Ibai and other supporters of this blog that I do not mention, Maaf Zahir Batin and have a good Hari Raya wherever you are.

I am away from home and temporarily using a Mac, a machine I am not familiar with but grudgingly admit seems to display pictures better than my Window 7 machine.

See you here soon. Insyaallah.

To the people in Darat Terakit, Maras, Jambu Bokok and other places where Raya 6 is celebrated more joyously than today, Selamat Raya Nang!

TERENGGANU'S ANNUAL SEVERANCES

2009-09-05T00:21:00.005+08:00

No, I am not talking about the annual mass circumcisions. I am talking about children in Terengganu losing fingers messing with firecrackers. It has become an annual affair. They never learn, do they? Very soon, people would be able to identify Terengganu lads by their missing fingers. " Only 3 fingers? Must be from Terengganu!"

I wonder if Awang Goneng can tell us whether Britons lose digits during Guy Fawkes Day. In the same vein, Mek Yam in Manhattang, New York New York could furnish us with statistics on lost fingers on 4th of July.

Parents of Terengganu children must let their children know that it is quite difficult to use the laptop issued by the State government when one does not have enough fingers. Of course if the trend continues and more and more children get their fingers blown off by ngecung (firecrackers) then it becomes necessary for the state to order modified laptops. Probably the kind that can be operated by nose-sensistive pad.

Firecrackers originated in China where they were exploded to ward off evil spirits. Apparently, in Terengganu it had the opposite effect. It severed fingers of the children. It also caused several ngecung pushers in Marang to lose their wares. It is interesting to note that the latest cases of severed fingers were not from Marang. I congratulate the Marang Police for their pro-activeness. Firecrackers are prohibited items. Other police stations in the state should get cracking before more children lose their fingers and the adults lose their hearing.

Since I am too cheap to make the long-distance call, I will let off several virtual ngecung to celebrate Elisa's birthday today. Alhamdullillah, she still has 10 fingers. Happy Birthday, sweet!

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO

2009-08-26T23:11:00.006+08:00

I suppose there is a balance in this world - you know, the ying and yang stuff. While there are people in Terengganu bent on obliterating whatever heritage the state has, there are people who are working hard to preserve our heritage. This upcoming book is a good example.
The blurb on the cover says it all:
"Kulit Manis: A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage is a celebration of Terengganu's historical, cultural, culinary and natural heritage, and the harmonious multiculturism that is woven into its social fabric. From cover to cover, Terengganu history and life as seen through the eyes of its people unfold - beautifully illustrated throughout with images painstakingly photographed over two years, that are at once familiar and at times surprising.
Originally conceived from the love for Terengganu food, this significant and comprehensive volume documents almost eighty recipes inherited through generations and in danger of passing into oblivion, which parallels the fate of our historical, cultural and natural heritage.
Although much has been lost, a lot remains to be saved and captured though there is precious little time to waste.
More than a timely wakeup call, Kulit Manis: A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage will evocatively stir the passions of Terengganuans, Malaysians and all readers who now contemplate the importance and fate of their heritage."

This not a cookbook per se. The recipes are part of the story as in these pages featuring our beloved Awang Goneng who mentioned beluda.
As mentioned before, the book is beautifully illustrated. This is an example of the chapter page spread.
You will get stunning photographs of Terengganu like this one of the coconuts in Penarek.

The book is a labour of love from To' Puan Rozita Abdullah and her team (which includes our lost blogger T. Dina Zaman). The launch is slated in October. Watch out for the announcement.

Technical Specifications:
Size: 315mm x 295mm x 30 mm
Number of pages: 252+ Endpapers+Hard Cover+ Dust jacket
Printing: Full colour throughout with all pictures gloss varnished
Material: High quality enviromentally-friendly acid-free paper

Price of the book will be announced later but do not let that stop you from reserving a copy or two. Email me.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING BLUE

2009-08-14T12:38:00.003+08:00

Last Thursday, while nibbling on Club Sandwiches at Renaissance's The Vogue, Mat Som told those present (Bloggers: Awang Goneng, Kak Teh, Puteri Kamaliah. Non-Bloggers: Pak Abu, Shamsuddin Jaafar, Kol. (B) Shafieq Ismail) that bloggers should be agitators for change. Although I personally think that bloggers should just highlight things like a highlighter and leave the opinion-making to the reader, there are times when agitation is necessary.
Take the case of the rows of pre-war buildings in Kuala Terengganu that the state government wanted to demolish. Read the blog here.

Apparently, the buildings were acquired by Lembaga Tabung Warisan Negeri Terengganu and the shopkeepers paid rent to carry on doing business in the building. To me, "warisan" means heritage. Things you pass on, intact, from generations to generations. I would like to believe that Lembaga Tabung Warisan Negeri Terengganu bought the old buildings to preserve them as heritage for the Terengganu people, present and future. Even after demolishing historical buildings like Mesjid Bukit Besar and Mesjid Chendering, it is still not too late for the state government to think about conservation. There are intrinsic values in old buildings which will never be replicated in vulgar modern malls.

I am not against progress if it means improving the life of Terengganu people. After all, that is what the government is for. Progress does not mean obliterating historical landmarks. Learn to work around these irreplaceable buildings. If other capitals in the world can do that, why can't Terengganu?

Read also Awang Goneng's piece here.

ATOK SURUH AWANG GONENG BALIK

2009-08-12T11:48:00.006+08:00

Awang Goneng and Kak Teh came back to Malaysia a few weeks ago. There was no sequel to GUIT so Awang Goneng was not rushing from one book-signing session to another this time around.

I managed to see the lovely couple twice so far. Once at a wonderful dinner hosted by Puteri Kamaliah & Pak Abu at Lake Club and the second time at lunch in Amcorp Mall. Tomorrow, Som is giving Awang Goneng & Kak Teh tea at Renaissance, KL. I hope I can get there.

Last year, when AG and KT came back, Atok (a blogger friend in Reading, England) missed AG so much that he posted a poem on Youtube. I just discovered it today while trolling for Sajak Terengganu that Ibrahim (Baliklah Wok, Aku Orang Ulu etc) told me were posted on Youtube.
Here's Atok's sajak:

TERENGGANU FEST

2009-07-26T12:31:00.004+08:00

There will be a galore of Terengganu delicacies, fruits and fun at Stadium Bukit Jalil Kuala Lumpur on 1st of August. All for free.
Adnan Othman told me about the event when he dropped off a tupperware of heavenly acar buah made by his wife.
The event is funded by the state government and PESAT (Persatuan Anak-Anak Terengganu) is giving its fullest cooperation. Details are a bit sketchy at the moment but peek in here for some info.

So if you are hankering for some real nasi dagang or kerepok lekor that does not weaken your jaws, be there. Bring your family and tell your friends. Everything is free except the parking or the LRT.

LANGUAGE OF THE TERENGGANU FISHERMEN

2009-06-16T12:52:00.002+08:00

Allow me to apologise to my blog followers (all 20 of them) for being lethargic in updating this blog. I am still without a phone line and my Celcom Broadband is not behaving too well. In spite of being very near the Menara Telekom, I am apparently too far from a Celcom tower to get a trouble-free connection. It was satisfactory during the 7 day trial period. After that it went downhill.

The beauty of blogs is that we learn from each other. You learn something from me and I learn something from your comments and feedback. I wonder if any of you are familiar with the language of our Terengganu nelayan. Like any other professionals, they have their own terms and phrases. I am trying to collect as much istilah of these orang kelaut as I can and I need your help. I did ask a friend in a fishing village in Terengganu to collect as much words as he can but he is busy ferrying tourists to Pulau Redang.

I do remember a few words unique to the orang kelaut though. Words like awok. To the ordinary Terengganu Jusoh, awok is a crude form of "you". To to the orang kelaut, awok is a member of the boat crew. Galle (standard: tenggala) is usually when you plow the land with the plough. To the orang kelaut, galle is the sticky stuff that you plug leaky boats with.

While some of the ordinary Terengganu folks might enjoy listening to keroncong, the music, orang kelaut know keroncong as the part of pukat tarek where the fish are caught. They may or may not hum a keroncong tune when they see a full keroncong rising out of the sea.

Orang kelaut also have specific words to describe the condition of the sea. If it is a bit choppy, they say that the sea is kucoh. Worse than kucoh is gelora. I and other sea-sick people would wait when the sea is lenang before venturing out in boats. Lenang, as my sea-sick uncle described it is "when the sea is like teh-o in a cup".

Now tell me of other words and phrases that the orang kelaut use. Until then, let us wish all the fishermen of Terengganu to always come ashore with their boats muat luang (filled with abundant catch).

SOUND ADDITIONS

2009-05-19T23:11:00.006+08:00

Movie fans who bothered to read the credits might see the names of Foley Artists responsible for the sound effects in the film. I would think that Terengganu speakers would make good Foley artists because most action words in Terengganuspeak are inevitably followed by an appropriate sound.

Take falling as an example. In Terengganu, things or bodies just do not jatuh (fall). They jatuh bedebok (falls with a thud) no matter how hard the surface is or how high the fall. A stumble sounds more painful. Doesn't reboh bedebing sounds sharper and the receiving surface is hard and unforgiving?

Certain things do not just break, they explode noisily. A bottle of budu (anchovy sauce) absent-mindedly left in the car on a very hot day can pecoh belepong (explode) as easily as an inflated balloon rudely poked with a pin. The poker might be caught by the balloon owner's father or big brother and duly tapo beleping (bitch-slapped) or if the owner is big enough (and angry enough), he himself might tumbok bedebuk (punch) the poker. Some young ballon owners might be just shocked and a short while later nangih berdrohong (wail). In this case, the poker's best course of action is to tembor bedaung and show a clean pair of heels. As for the aforementioned bottle of budu, when the owner of the car opens the door, he/she will be hit by a malodorous smell. He/she can say that he/she bau wa wa (smells something strong).

In Terengganu, running into things is never a silent affair. There is always a noise. Thus langgor gedegang although it is not necessarily the corrugated iron fence that you collide with. Sucking something, either a cold beverage sucked through a straw or a runny nosed young boy sucking in his nasal mucilage give us isap serok serok (suck noisily) much to the displeasure of the prim and proper Miss Emily Post.

I know some of you might be suka gelekek (titter) by this time but unfit me is already leloh bedohor (out of breath). So be my guest and add in your action words (verbs) with the sound added that you have heard spoken in Terengganu.

FAMILY TAGS

2009-05-14T13:53:00.003+08:00

Some cultures have specific name or title for a particular member of the family. A close friend of mine who has Bengali roots is Dada to the children of his sons while his daughter's kids call him Nana and his wife Nani. His brothers' kids call him Chacha and his wife Chahchi while the children of his sisters call him Mamu and his wife Mami.
The Chinese too have specific names for members of the family. The eldest auntie, father's side is called Kuma while the eldest auntie on the mother's side is called Tai Ee (Big Auntie).

Terengganu families are not that rigid or elaborate. The eldest auntie is Mak Long from "Sulong" which is the first. Eldest uncle is Pak Long or Ayoh Long. Another variation is Wa (from the word tua or old). So your eldest auntie is Wa and your eldest uncle is Ayoh Wa. The next older auntie is Mok Ngoh/Chek Ngoh and the uncle is Ayoh Ngoh or Pok Ngoh. This is fairly simple to deduce because the second one is in the middle (tengoh).The youngest sister of your mother is Mok Su (bongsu-youngest) and the youngest brother is Ayoh Su or Pok Su. A variation of Su is Chu as in Mok Chu or Pok Chu.

This works well if your grandparents had only 3 kids. If they had more they were given titles that did not reflect their seniority at all. Some are called Cek Teh because they are fairskinned (putih) or Cek Tam because they are dusky (hitam). Some are even called De (from the word muda) because they are younger but not the youngest. Since uncles too might be called De or Ayoh De, there are aunties in that particular position called De Mek. Unlike the Bengalis or the Chinese, Terengganu Malays use Mak Long for the eldest auntie on both the mother and father's side. To avoid confusions, the auntie's or uncle's name is affixed. Thus we have Mok Long Selamoh or Pak Chu Mang to differentiate them from Mok Long Haji Lijoh or Pak Chu Beraheng.

In extreme cases where one is the only child,your cousin's kids would call you Ngga (from the word tunggal or only one). So to my cousin's children I am Ayoh Ngga- the Lonely One. Lonely shall I retire to ponder why I call my father's younger brother Bah Abang, their late mother Mok Tok and my father's cousin who is younger than me Mok Adik. I have never met my paternal or maternal grandfather. I was born after they were gone. Thus I do n't call them Ki or Tok Ki. Whatever I would call them, I am sure they won't answer.

MINYOK

2009-05-06T09:49:00.001+08:00

Long before Terengganu was blessed (or cursed - depending on who you talk to) with the discovery of petroleum within her waters, Terengganu folks were already familiar with "minyok".

We used minyok tanoh (kerosene) to light our pelita ayang (oil lamp) or the brighter and noisier pressure lanterns that you have to pump and prime before you get any light. Later on there were "Butterfly" stoves which also ran on minyok tanoh. Some of you might remember being sent to the local provision shop with an empty bottle so that the shopkeeper can gumba (pump) kerosene for you from a square tin that looks like a biscuit tin. The pump itself fascinated many young Terengganu lads. It is simple yet effective. It has only one moving part and that is the rod that you move up and down to get the minyak tanoh flowing from the big tin down the spout to your bottle.

Minyok tanoh is called such to differentiate it from minyok tanok (cooked oil) or minyok nyo (coconut oil) whose source is higher up and far from the tanoh (ground).

As you get closer to Kelantan, minyok tanoh gets to be called minyok gah. There is a famous Lorong Minyok Gah in Kota Baru. I guess minyok gah is from the the English "gas" which in turn is short for gasoline which is not kerosene at all. Gasoline is what Terengganu people call minyok petrol or sometimes called benzine (minyok benzeng). Oil for the engine is called minyok selendar because Terengganu motorists know that the oil lubricates the pistons in the cylinder. Engine oil is also called minyok itang.

Surprisingly, in Terengganu, perfumes are not called minyak wangi but air wangi. Preferences for eau de cologne perhaps? Perfumes used for Friday prayers are called minyok attor (attar) and brilliantine, cream or oil you put on your hair are called minyok rambut (hair oil). The popular brands during my time are Brylcreem, Yardley and for Hindustani fans of both sexes, Zam Zam.

Just like the car that needs change of minyok selendar every now and then, boys that use brilliantine changed oil on their head every few miles.

Underfoot, all the way from Trinidad and her famous Steel Band came minyok tar or asphalt. At one time many drums of asphalt were abandoned on the river bank in front of the Kuala Terengganu Post Office and quite close to Pok Kadir's famous stall. Inevitably, the asphalt found its way out of the rusting drums and onto the soles of Pok Kadir's customers. Some might get stuck to shiny mudguards of motorcycles or the body of some cars. These black stuff were not called minyok tar anymore. Off the road, they were called blakeng and seasoned motorcyclists and motorists cleaned them off with a mixture of minyok tanoh and apah nyo.

It was after a lot of headaches and copious administration of minyok rima (Tiger balm) did I suspect that blakeng came from the English word "blacking". Any other theories welcomed.

(Due to lack of breath and unsuitable voice, there will be no audio version of this post. Apologies.)

APRIL FOOLS

2009-04-15T00:38:00.003+08:00

There will be no Terengganu words to learn this time around because after what happened in Terengganu yesterday. I have only swear words in my head.

Are those group of BN assemblymen in Terengganu for real? My friends in Terengganu told me that they are as real as the plastic palms that used to dot Terengganu towns. Three of them received "threatening SMS" and 10 played truant and did not attend the sittings. How many assemblymen has been assasinated in Terengganu? People in Terengganu Darul Iman are comparatively religious. They believe life and death are in the domain of Allah and not in the powers of political rivals. Besides, the hotel they were holed up in is less secure than the Dewan Undangan Negeri. You can see the State Police HQ from the assembly.

What have they achieved other than disgracing the state? Nothing whatsoever. When the new PM talk of unity they displayed divisiveness. When the new cabinet are talking about being more responsible, these sorry excuse of lawmakers chose to be irresponsible. They should be in the Dewan asking questions on behalf of their voters, shouldn't they?

Whatever your ambition is, whatever you want to happen, do it with some class and lots of intelligence. Being petulant (and some would say flatulent too) will not get you anywhere. As my friend Dato' Omar Khalid said:
"Di Teganung ramai orang pandai, tapi tak ramai yang bijok." I would not have guessed that he meant the BN politicians.

ANOK

2009-04-08T11:09:00.000+08:00

Even though there is a Malay saying that goes "Kecil jangan disangka anak, besar jangan disangka bapa" Terengganu speakers, just like other Malay speakers call the smaller of things anok. So the key, which is smaller than the lock is called anok kuci and the arrow which is smaller compared to the bow is anok panoh. Similarly, we have anok mata which is part of the eye and anok tekok, which is a part of the throat. I think it is the uvula. Can someone with a copy of Gray's Anatomy check?

If you want to get out of the house, you go down the steps. If your house is a typical kampung house, you would step on several anok tangga before you reach the ground. If you are at night and the time is right you might see a crescent moon in the sky. That would be anok bulang. There is no mok bulang or bapak bulang although there is bulan purnama in Kuala Terengganu and in Bukit Gantang shining very brightly during by-elections.

Venture further into the bushes and you might find tough, wiry thumb-sized trees growing. These are called anok kuat and Merang folks used them as floors and walls for their huts. Anok kuat sometimes can be found near anok sunga (streams or tributaries) where small boys catch anok seriding (very small fishes). Very small boys, usually uncircumcised, when in a team of older boys (probably circumcised) would be called anok wek for the duration of whatever game they were playing.

There was one such anok wek who accidentally caught hold of his grandma's breast. His father was furious and gave the boy a scolding. The boy apologized to the grandma and muttered:
"Ayoh ning, orang pegang kopek mok dia sekali maroh doh. Dia pegang kopek mok kita ari ari kita dak kata apa pong."

SOUND WORDS

2009-04-01T13:10:00.005+08:00

Before Mimi cok (reserve) the wireless modem, I'd better finish this post. So I will make it short.
There will be not enough time for lengthy explanations so I will just introduce you to the words in a story that purportedly happened in Kampong Longger Terengganu many many years ago. The veracity of the story could not be confirmed since all those involved and maybe the kampung too are no longer with us.

One evening in December, Ayoh Wang Deramang was shaken out of his post-asar nap in his rattan kerusi malah (lazy chair) by loud noises coming out of the next room. His house has many rooms and he rented them out to supplement his income. The room next door where the grudung gradang came from was rented by a couple who were both orally and aurally challenged. Non-politically correct people would call the couple deaf and dumb.
"How could a deaf and dumb couple make so much noise, so bising bangor?" Ayoh Wang Deramang thought to himself. He proceeded to bang dengor (pricked his ear) and there were more grudung gradang from the next room. Since there were no speech, Ayoh Wang Deramang could not describe the din as geger. Were the couple having an orgy after the birth of their baby? Ayoh Wang Deramang, a bachelor, scolded himself for having such an unsavoury thought. The grudung gradang continued. Ayoh Wang Deramang became curiouser and curiouser. He could not hold himself much longer. Throwing caution and good breeding to the monsoon wind, he rushed to the store to get his putorela (hand drill/gimlet) and drilled a hole in the wall. He peeked through the hole and what did he see?
He saw furnitures upturned. He saw the room in a mess. He saw the husband holding a picture of his wife's father in one hand and an open umbrella in the other. He also saw the wife holding her baby with one hand and pointing to her exposed breast with the other.
Ayoh Wang Deramang was mystified. He could not make out what was happening. Only one person would know. Cikgu Rozak, a teacher at the deaf and dumb school would know. Conveniently, Cikgu Rozak was renting a room at the other end of the house. Ayoh Wang Deramang ran to fetch Cikgu Rozak who came to the peephole and peeped. He saw the same thing that Ayoh Wang Deramang saw.
He saw furnitures upturned. He saw the room in a mess. He saw the husband holding a picture of his wife's father in one hand and an open umbrella in the other. He also saw the wife holding her baby with one hand and pointing to her exposed breast with the other.
Cikgu Rozak turned to the expectant Ayoh Wang Deramang.
"Ayoh Wang, the wife is telling the husband to buy milk for the baby.."
"Pah tu? (Then?)"
"The husband said pala ayoh mu (your father's head). It is raining lah."

BOATS IN TERENGGANU

2009-03-25T00:16:00.011+08:00

Despite getting seasick most of the time (even on the river), I love boats and In Terengganu, where I grew up, at one time, there were more boats than automobiles.
The first boat that I was on was not really a boat. The English would call it a dugout canoe. The Terengganu folks, being more generous call the dugout perahu jalor. It is a poor man's aquatic runabout.

Here is a picture of my father (in dark glasses) with his friend Tok Kobi, a kadhi back from a hunt. See how low the perahu jalor sits in the water. My father must have great faith in his boatmen because he never learned how to swim.

The perahu jalor is never designed by a naval architect. You simply choose a log and hack away the parts that do not look like a perahu jalor.
Perahu jalor, as I remember it was always manually powered. You either paddle it or punt it. You can't even put a sail to it.

You can however, use sail on a sekuchi. There are no hard and fast rule on the material you can use for the sail. I saw plenty of sekuchi using sails patched together from flour sacks. I have yet to see sekuchi sails made of kain pelikat or kain batik.
Fishermen friends in Terengganu told me that sekuchi are good for fishing in the river or, if in the sea, close to the shore. Apparently, sekuchi boats do not handle waves very well.

A close cousin of the sekuchi is the kolek. The prows are longer and higher and these make the kolek handles the waves better. The kolek is also sail-powered and it was popular with the freelance nelayan (fisherman) of Merang and other parts of Terengganu. Koleks can go further out to see than the sekuchi although it would not go as far as Australia as this young man in the picture discovered.
I would think that a payang would make it to Australia. Payang boats are at least twice as big and higher than a kolek. Payangs were used by the pukat tarek fishermen and they were rowed like viking ships, somewhat. I could not find a picture of perahu payang on my pc. Putrajaya residents can pop over to the lake and see a modified payang taking tourists on a cruise.

The boat that can really take you places would be the bedor. There was anok bedo that looked like the one in this picture. I used to hitch a ride in one of these to get from the Customs jetty to Seberang Takir. I had to wait for the wind though because it was wind-powered.
Bigger bedo (was it ibu bedor or ayoh bedor. I am not sure) complete with a toilet at the stern once made the journey from Kuala Terengganu to Thailand bringing back stuffs such as terracota tiles or whatever that floats the boats of the traders at the time.

JURRUH

2009-03-18T12:25:00.009+08:00

There could be a time in Terengganu when parents had to decide who should be their son-in-law or , as the case maybe, daughter-in-law. When that happened, a couple of words describing the qualities of the prospective new member of the family would be bandied about.

The prospect would be good if the candidate is described as jurruh. A jurruh person is someone who is morally straight, upright,trustworthy and can be counted upon to do the right thing. A jurruh person is less likely to run away with the mother-in-law's subang bung and other jewellery. The kind of person who would do that is dak jurruh. He or she would not be the kind of person that semayang bang (prays) or posa re er (fast).

Another phrase that goes well with most jurruh person is tertek terning. Tertek terning is a description of how the person speaks, sits, eats and acts. Somehow, there is an unwritten Terengganu version of "Miss Emily's Book of Etiquette " that every Terengganu child is taught to comply with. Loud and ungraceful children would be admonished as kasor gegor (rough). These kids, if they do not change their ways, would grow up to be rejects when considered as prospective in-laws later.

There are persons, usually females, who do not achieve tertik terning but somehow does not fall into the dak jurruh or kasor gegor category. By disposition, these females are a bit bolder and outspoken but still graceful and pleasant. They are described as lepah laku. A lepah laku person will be at ease in any gatherings. You are welcomed to give your own definition of lepah laku. Mind you, lepah laku does not mean "beyond bought" as in dak laku. When considering daughters-in-law, there is a group of girls very low in the list. Terengganu folks call these kind of girls tinna garrek. Tinna is betina and garrek is maghrib. Thus if a girl goes out at maghrib time and not to the surau or mosque, she is not daughter-in-law material, even if your own son is a jinn.

Talking about choosing a life-partner made me think of the movie "Some Like It Hot". Most of you were not born yet when this film came out. The movie is about 2 musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) who had to disguise themselves as girls when running away from murderous gangsters. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon became Josephine and Daphne respectively and joined an all-girls band where Tony Curtis fell in love with Marilyn Monroe and a millionaire (Osgood Fielding III, played by Joe.E.Brown) was smitten by Daphne (Jack Lemmon). Daphne was trying very hard to convince Osgood that "she" was not the right girl for him:
" I cannnot have babies!"
"That's ok. We can adopt"
Finally, Jack Lemmon told the truth:
"Oh, you don't understand, Osgood! Ehhhh... I'm a man."
"Well, nobody's perfect"

RADIOS IN TERENGGANU

2009-03-11T11:46:00.015+08:00

In the 50's, Terengganu folks listened to the radio in groups. The government had a special broadcast called " Siaran Ke Kampung-Kampung" where news and other radio programs were specially tailored to kampung folks all over the country. There was a designated place in the kampung where villagers can gather, lay down their pandanus mat and listen to the broadcast through one long horn speaker hooked up to the village's only working radio receiver. Villagers flocked around the horn speaker to listen to "Warta Berita", "Bangsawan Di Udara", "Sandiwara Radio" and later the series "Kebun Pak Awang".

The horn speaker used was considerably longer than this one. I can safely say that the serombong (horn speaker) was identical to the one high up in the minaret of Mesjid Putih (Mesjid Sultan Zainal Abidin) in Kuala Terengganu.

In Kuala Terengganu and other big towns, those who could afford it bought their own radio sets. The early receivers were bakelite boxes with two knobs. One to search for stations, the other for volume control. There were push down switches to select bands. At that time we only have Shortwave and Medium wave. FM did not come yet. There were no telescopic aerials. The aerial was a very long piece of copper wire strung across the highest part of the house or outside, between two tall bamboo poles.

Usually there was a "lamp" which actually was a valve somewhere in front to help you "tune" to the station.
These radios ran on electricity thus they were confined to the towns where supply from CEB (Central Electricity Board) was available. CEB was changed to LLN (Lembaga Letrik Negara) which some Terengganu wags referred to as "Lenggok Lenggok Naik" when they saw the wireman surveying the electric poles that they were about to climb. As we all know, LLN changed to TNB and charged us more for electricity.

Radio sets (tuners and amplifiers) at that time used valves or electronic tubes that was periodically replaced as part of radio maintenance. There are some hi-fi enthusiasts today who prefer these tubes to the solid-state transistor amplifiers.
Those Terengganu folks without access to electricity bought radios that were powered by their special big dry battery or sometimes by the messy "wet" car batteries.
I could not find a picture of the battery used but instead found one of "lonjong" dry battery. The one I remembered was squarish and had the name of "Berec" or something like that.

Later there were radios combined with record player/changer that looked like short cupboards.

My grandaunt had one more sophisticated than the one in this picture. I learned a lot of songs on her radiogram. I remembered learning to dance too but it was hard dancing alone.

When transistors were invented, we had portable radios powered by torchlight batteries. Terengganu people call this batteries "ubat lampu". The radio is about the size of a paperback. Some came with a leather casing with straps. The famous Cik Kaleh, bought one and hung it on his trishaw to provide entertainment to himself and his customer. The other early transistor radio that I remember belonged to our classmate, Habib Mat, who had indulgent parents.

Later, portable radios came in all shapes and sizes even in the shape of cans of popular drinks.
Now tell me about your first radio.

SEKKUK

2009-03-04T01:27:00.000+08:00

Terengganuspeakers are familiar with the sentence
Makang sekkuk pak seggi atah sejjid
(Eating square biscuits on the mosque)
This is more of a tongue-twister of sort although I would not recommend it to anyone with a mouthful of crackers whether you are in a mesjid, misjed or sejjid.
Sekkuk pak seggi (square biscuits) are what some Terengganu folks call the cream crackers. Some of my West Coast friends morbidly call the crackers biskut mayat probably due to the fact that these crackers are usually served at funerals by neighbours of the deceased.

Some Terengganu folks also know those crackers as biskut/sekkuk tawor simply because they are not sweet compared to another ubiquitous biscuit - Biskut Marie. Apparently, Marie is not a brand. It is a type of biscuit that is round and sweet. Probably like a Marie that you might know. Whoever makes the Marie biscuits (Khong Guan, Arnott etc.) will have the word Marie in the middle and a design around the edges.

Marie biscuits were perennial in the dining room when I was in STAR, Ipoh for my Form Six. I am sure it is the same with other school hostels. 48 odd years down the road, I still see biskut Marie rescuing hungry children everywhere.

What I do not see is biskut cottek. Biskut chottek is a thumb-sized oval biscuit with a dab of sugar-flower twirled on top. This is the reason they were also called sekkuk bunga. When I was a small boy and I had some coins with me, I used to dash to Kedai Bunga opposite the Kuala Terengganu Fire Station and bought some biskut cottek. They were sold by weight and they were always displayed in big square tins with a glass window. Modern packaging came very much later.

I also remember other stuffs sold in those windowed tin cans.There were those delicious crispy sticks, which, if not for their stick-like shape would be considered biscuits too. We used to bite each end, dunk them in our tea or coffee and used the stick as a straw. We call them sekkut kerah.
Alas, there are no native biscuits to speak of. The closest thing to a homegrown biscuit is something made of sago flour and nissang (palm sugar). It is not as big as sekkut Marie but just as round.Unlike sekkut Marie, there are no letters on it but if you look underneath, you can see imprints of the pandanus mat where it last sat before being baked. Terengganu people call it kerepek sagu and this is one of the occasion where I beg to differ. Kerepek sagu is not like kerepek ubi, kerepek minja or kerepek pisang. For all intents and purposes it is a biscuit and not a kerepek. I hope this injustice is put right.

"AKU" REDUX

2009-02-25T01:28:00.001+08:00

The original post appeared on 26th November 2004. It was a slow day.
Today is still a slow day. I will do the sajak (poem) again for the benefit of new readers who were not around in 2004, To those who were with me since 2004, I have added audio to the post.

This is a poem by Chairil Anwar which we had to learn in college.

AKU
Kalau sampai waktuku
'Ku mau tak seorang kan merayu
Tidak juga kau
Tak perlu sedu sedan itu
Aku ini binatang jalang
Dari kumpulannya terbuang
Biar peluru menembus kulitku
Aku tetap meradang menerjang
Luka dan bisa kubawa berlari
Berlari
Hingga hilang pedih peri
Dan aku akan lebih tidak perduli
Aku mau hidup seribu tahun lagi

Chairil Anwar is Indonesian. If Chairil were from Terengganu, his poem would sound like this:

Bile kene glerang ambe weh
Ambo takmboh sorrang pong takweh
Mung pong jangan jugok
Dok payoh nnangih eso'-eso'
Ambe ning menatang bujang
Kene tohok keluo kupolang
Bedil lah ambe dung dang dung dang
Ambe terajang maroh mmanjang
Ambe hungga gi wala saket ketet ketet
Hungga
Sapa dok rase sikit tuit
Ambe kohor dok cakna sikkit
Ambe nok iduk tokkat langit

HEADY STUFF

2009-02-18T14:00:00.007+08:00

(Click PLAY to listen to the blog. Excuse the reader who still has no teeth)

For want of a better subject, we will start at the top with the head. Why? Well, why not? In good times and in bad times, we need to keep our head. There is nothing worse than losing one's head. Ask those who lost theirs in the French Revolution or the revolting people in front of Istana Bukit Chandan recently.

The standard Bahasa Malaysia word for head is kepala. The economical Terengganu speakers use pala. Pala is for the thing at the topmost of your neck where your hair grows (or not growing, as the case may be). Pala as in kepala is both for the physical head and idiomatic head. Thus when Terengganu speakers speak of pala botok they are referring to a shiny bald pate or a head with a bald patch. There is a ditty that rude children of Terengganu used to chorus:

Ayang ketok bawoh rumoh Pala botok sama tengoh
Roughly translated
The hen cackles under the house
The round bald patch is right in the middle
(If you have time on your hand, translate the ditty so that it ryhmes.)

Like gangs anywhere else, those children would have a leader. Shocked and disappointed Terengganu parents would call the ring leader pala haliang. I have yet to be told of the meaning of haliang. Perhaps Mek Yang in faraway Big Apple could tell me the next time she honours this blog with a visit.

Like the Bahasa Malaysia kepala angin ( a temperamental person), Terengganu speakers also use pala to describe the attitude or demeanour of certain characters in their midst. Thus we have pala masang (literally sour head) and pala pengat (literally gruel head).

I have been called on ocassions pala anging (kepala angin) and for the shallowness of my blogs, an airhead (head full of air, no brain). So far, nobody has called me pala masang. Pala masang is someone who is angry at everything and everyone often without valid reasons. Like a bad battery, a pala masang person is all negative. So probably we can translate pala masang as "sore head". Pala pengat is something worse. A pala pengat person, I have been told, is quick-tempered and might slap or hit you for the flimsiest of reason. My maternal grandmother, a Kelantanese-speaker would call this type of person gedebe. You will find pala masang and pala pengat characters in any group. My fervent hope is that there is one pala pengat person among the supporters of Eli Wong. I met Eli at a bloggers gathering and I would never think of Eli as a bad person, whatever you think "bad" is. I agree that she has done nothing wrong. We all trusted someone at some point or other. To betray someone is wrong. To be betrayed and to have your privacy violated is horrendous. So if there is a pala pengat person among Eli's friends, go find the low-life who violated her trust and her privacy and shove the camera phone up where the sun doesn't shine.

For hyprocritical politicians who bayed for Eli Wong's resignation, I, who have allegiance to no party have only this for you:
pala korrok mung

Go translate that.

BOLO' WO'

2009-02-10T15:35:00.004+08:00

(Click PLAY to listen to the talking blog. Once again, excuse the reader. He still has no teeth)

When told by neighbours who could read and those who have TVs of the current political situation in various parts of the country, Mok Long Selamoh’s only response was a question:

“Guane bolo’ wo’ tu?” (Why the mess?)

Ask the question to 8 people and you would get 8 differing answers replete with theories and arguments as loose as Mok Long Selamoh’s kemban (Malay mu mu). I shall not dwell on the question here because it will make me pening pala (dizzy).

You might wonder if there are other parts of the body in Terengganu or elsewhere that can go dizzy. I suppose Terengganu people never did because they also use

Lapo perut ( literally hungry stomach meaning hungry)

Ngato’ mata (literally eyes sleepy meaning sleepy)

Dahaga tekok (literally thirsty throat thirsty)

Jalang kaki (literally walk feet meaning to go on foot)

and other similar words that you might know.

Lovers of Terengganuspeak would know that Terengganu speakers are economical with their words to the point of combining and truncating two or more words to become one for example kekgi (in a while) from sikit lagi, setabok from sebutir habok(a speck of dust) and other words that you might care to contribute. So why the redundancy in pening pala, lapo perut and other pairs mentioned earlier? Were the Terengganu speakers being precise while seemingly being redundant? You have seen that Terengganu people know exactly what they want. It is very clear to them that Monsoon Cup is not the same as monsoon drains.

If in the English language, “see” can have many meanings as in

“I see dead people”

“I will see you in court”

“I see your point” and other examples that you might care to add.

Technology added another dimension to the word “see” when you can “see” someone without being physically in the same location. To add to the pening pala, there is the “see” used in metaphysics that involves the “third eye”. Thus, “eyeballed” is used to mean “see with eyes”. Lapo perut or sometimes lapo nasik (hungry for rice) is precisely that. Not hunger for power, Not hunger for sex. Ngato’ mata means your eyelids are drooping and getting heavier and you need to sleep. This is to differentiate it from the condition you are in while listening to the droning of politicians (power hungry or sex hungry or not) when your mind wanders to more pleasant things and you are asleep with your eyes wide open.

Dahaga tekok or also dahaga air is of course the physical thirst for your beverage of choice. After slaking your physical thirst you then can go and take care of your thirst for knowledge which should not be quenchable. Prophet Mohamad (peace be upon him) exhorted us to “seek knowledge even to China”.Even in the olden days you cannot go to China jalang kaki.

I hope I have not made you pening pala. At least pening pala is not as bad as serabut perut. Serabut is all tangled up, rat's nest messy and knotted like unruly fishing lines. Serabut perut is not your stomach all knotted up and messy (with undigested fibers or whatnots). It is a mental condition. It is used to describe when your head is filled with a myriad of problems and unresolved questions. If it is in the head, why blame the stomach? In their wisdom, Terengganu people would want you to know that when you have problems and unresolved issues and take to the street to do unintelligent things, you already have no head. You lost it.Thus serabut perut.