Trengganuspeak

Yesterday my little brother, Ahmad Ali asked dad if it will still rhymes if he change the wording in the ‘Pussy Cat’ poem to…

Pussy cat, pussy cat,

Where have you been,

I’ve been to London,

To see Awang Goneng.

Dad laughed and said yes it’ll rhymes perfectly but only if we read it in Trengganuspeak…

Pussy cat, pussy cat,

Where have you beeng,

I’ve beeng to Londeng,

To see Awang Goneng.

I wonder what Uncle Awang Goneng will say if he hears this ‘new’ nursery rhyme. We all had a very good laugh except for my poor little brother who can’t understand Trengganuspeak.

Trengganuspeak reminds me of Budu Spell (page 247-GUIT by Uncle AG). Mum said that it was so funny that she couldn’t stop laughing. I read it but I didn’t find it that funny until mum read it for me in the original Trengganuspeak. Only then I started laughing comparing budu (a type of sauce) to anak bbudu (tadpoles)!

Mum then asked me a question that I was not able to answer (and honestly I’m still confused about it- had to check with mama). What is the different between…

1. Awang makang kambing; and
2. Awang makang kkambing.

In Bahasa Malaysia both sentences spelt makan wrongly and looks the same; only in the second > the kambing (goat) was spelt wrongly; but in Trengganuspeak it means:-

1. Awang eats (a) goat (mutton)
2. Awang was eaten by (a) goat!

Wow!!! And I still can’t pronounce the word ‘buah khadeh’ right till this moment!

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A Letter To Atuk (My Grandfather)

Assalamu Alaikum, Dearest Atuk,

We are really sad to see Atuk so weak and not as cheerful as Atuk used to be. It was only 3 months ago when Atuk was still very healthy and active.

Atuk, do you still remember the games we played when Aiman was a little girl? Atuk would be reading the newspapers while playing all sorts of games with me and suddenly he would declared ‘ Atuk menang!’ (atuk wins!), and I would scream ‘mana achi! (Unfair!) and would ran away sulking, but after a while came back asking Atuk to play another game. Atuk would never say no whenever Aiman asked Atuk to play; it doesn’t matter if Atuk doesn’t knows the rules of the game… in fact Atuk never bothers about the rules! We played congkak, chess, checkers and a lot more…

Whenever Atuk came for a visit, Atuk buys roti canai and lontong from a restaurant nearby for breakfast. On the last day, before atuk would be going home to Kuala Terengganu, Atuk would buy extra roti canai and mama would heat them up for our breakfast with cold sardine straight from the fridge. When we finished the roti canai, we would be asking Atuk to come back to KL for more roti canai!

Today, Atuk hardly speaks to Aiman. To make it worst, Aiman do not know how and what to say to Atuk. Aiman wish to make Atuk happy and hear the laughter when Atuk tease us. Atuk, please get better. We miss Atuk’s jokes and funny ‘magic’ tricks. We love you very much, Atuk!

Love, Aiman and adik-adik.

Note: My Grandfather is a wonderful man. He studied in Egypt and England; and worked (as the then Prime Minister’s personal representative to UNHCR) in Europe mainly in London, Geneva and Vienna. Apart from Bahasa Malaysia (Malay Language) and English, he speaks Arabic and German and a little Japanese. I’m so proud of him and I hope to be able to write about him one day.