Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Deekay West Side - Halim Yazid
I wasn’t actually planning to write anything today. My cough is getting worse and my nose is working overtime, but this I can’t just keep to myself.
Started with Idlan sending me a link to a site on songs by Halim Yazid. This guy is currently a lecturer in one of the universities in Malaysia and sings dikir barat which I have translated here to Deekay West Side to give it an urban feel because we’re all urbanites yo!
The beauty of all the songs that he’s created made me wonder what it would be like if he does collaboration with Snoop Doggy Dog or Nelly. It’ll be a hit I think. We’ll leave Mariah Carey out for now. I don’t think Nik Aziz will be pleased with that.
The first time I heard of him and got sucked in especially with the Tupai song, was when my dad came over for my graduation in Southampton 4 years ago last week. It was my birthday as well and so his gift was the cassette by Halim Yazid. Not that he meant it as a birthday gift.
We listened to it on the way to Cornwall, which was a 6hr drive, to Penzance, to London, to Bath, to name it, anywhere, I had all the lyrics in my head by the end of the week.
He absolutely adored the guy and I think I know why.
Halim doesn’t write a typical dikir, a lot of his work touches anybody who understands the language because in between those perfectly rhyming verses he’s passing on advice and teachings from merely observing a small mammal like a tupai (squirrel) daily routine to a hard knock life of his own growing up in a rural area with everything in scarcity, money, food and transport, but still persevere with his education to get to where he is now. You learn about the man himself, his struggle through university with his father at home struggling to make ends meet, and you learn about life many little lessons, through his eyes.
What makes his stories particularly touching is because, Kelantan, being the least developed state in Malaysia back then and even is still now, has little resources. Most families struggle to obtain education. They have to bergadai bergolok (pawn everything that they have) just so their children can enter university in high hopes that they’ll change their own fate.
Halim’s generation which is also roughly my dad’s generation, if you imagine, is the generation now the fule behind the ruling of the country. The menteris, the chairmans, the CEOs, the managers, the many leaders in the many big organizations and big companies. If they are from Kelantan, they didn’t get to where they are now easy, but why is it that some of them tend to forget that?
Many return during Hari Raya with their BMWs and Mercedes whatever class their hearts desire to clog up our ancient roads. It was worse than LDP at 6pm on a rainy day that particular year. They left their big houses in TTDI or Damansara and brought back their big cars and big wives who adorn big necklaces and big handbags along with their children with big KL vocabulary. They complain endlessly about the state of the road, the state of the congestion and the state of how things don’t change much since the last time they’ve been back. What a lost and what a shame.
My question is, why don’t you come back to Kelantan, get the political dispute sorted, start pouring money in and bringing in investors into the bloody state? Save the complaining part for your big fat minging wives and get your ass moving. Easy for me to say I know but why not? If there's a will there's a way and it's about time.
If you are a Kelantanese, you will have no problem understanding this song. If you are from the west side ( orang kay ell la kan) you’ll find a ‘high’ standard of Bahasa Melayu and English translation included.
The rest of his work can be obtained as mp3 on
http://dkbarat.tripod.com/halim.htm
Kecek Dengan Anok (Talking to My Son) -click to listen
Anok ambo tanyo nok wak gapo peti sejuk
Anak saya tanya nak buat apa peti sejuk
My son asked me why do we need a fridge
Ambo kato gunno nok boh ike tok sey wi bughok
Saya kata berguna nak bubuh ikan tak bagi busuk
I said very useful to put the fish so it doesn’t go off
Jame oghe tuo paka sie belah perut
Zaman orang tua main siang belah perut
Long ago, they just slash the fish gut out
Bubuh dalam botol buat ngasse ike jeghuk
Lepas tu bubuh dalam botol buat mengasam ikan jeruk
Then stuff in bottles to make pickled fish
Dia tanyo pulok nok wak gappo beli blender
Dia tanya pulak nak buat apa beli blender
He then ask me what do we need a blender for
Mama nok wak akok tok nyusah kepok telor
Mama nak buat ‘akok’ tak nanti susah susah pukul telur
If mama wants to make akok (a special sweetcake) she won’t need to torture herself whisking the eggs
Kito lesung takdok gonni mudoh wak mesing laddo
Kita ni lesung pun tak ada, jadi benda ni mudah nak buat mesin lada
We don’t have pastel and mortar, so this is useful to blend chilies
Lumat cepat terlajok tok ngecik masok mato
Lumat extremely cepat tak percik masuk mata
Blends extremely quick and won’t get into your eyes
Bakpo ghumoh kito ado puyok leterik
Kenapa rumah kita ada periuk letrik
Why do we have an electric rice cooker
Lalu ambo kato dok die gak adik
Lalu saya kata diamlah anaku
So I said to my son, hush my son, listen carefully
Goni keno ado kito nok wak nanok nasik
Benda ni kenalah ada nak buat tanak nasi
This, we must have to cook the rice
Tinggal pun takpo nasik kito tok hangit
Tinggal pun taka pa nasi kita tak akan hangit
Even if we leave the cooker, the rice won’t get burnt
Bakpo gak papa ghumoh kito ado tv
Kenapa kan papa rumah kita ada tv
Why then papa our house has a tv
Gonni gunno besa sebak tu la papa beli
Benda ni gunanya besar sebab tulah papa beli
This thing has a big use, that’s why I bought it
Cerito ado gamba brito brito menteri
Cerita bergambar berita berita pasal menteri
The stories have pictures and also gives news about the leaders
Nanti adik besar baghu adik tau sdiri
Nanti anakku dah besar baru lah anaku tahu sendiri
When you grow up my son, you’ll understand you’ll realize it yourself.
Oghe sebelah ghumoh dio beli karaoke
Orang sebelah rumah beli karaoke
The Jones next door bought a karaoke set
Adik toksoh susoh bendo tu papa tokse
Anakku tak payah susah hati benda tu papa tak mau
My son, don’t despair papa has no desire for that
Bendo takdo pekdoh baik kitto toksoh mikkey
Benda yang tak ada faedah elok sahaja kita jangan fikir
Things of little benefit, let’s not waste our time thinking about it
Keh kito ado doh kaset2 hok papa dikkir
Kan kita dah ada kaset kaset dikir papa
All these cassettes with me in it singing , we shouldn’t need anything else
Maghi tughut papa kito gi beli computer
Jom ikut papa kita pergi beli computer
Let’s follow me to buy a computer I said
Nanti papa aja belah manno nok gunno
Nanti papa ajar macamana nak guna
I’ll teach you how to use it
Zaman mencapai internet corridor rayo
Zaman mencapai internet corridor raya
We are reaching the status multimedia super corridor
Bilo adik panda adik buleh jadi kayo
Bila anakku pandai boleh jadi kaya
When you grow up my son, you’ll attain wealth.
A few things that Idlan and I found out as well is that, bini Halim rajin buat akok (his wife can bake akok which is a kelantanese sweetcake quite complicated and tedious to make), and our generation is probably the last one to be able to appreciate dikir barat . My children will probably have Yorkshire accent and upon accidently playing Halim's cassete would probably shriek, “Mommy whats wif this man, he’s singing or wailing or wot, it’s a bit minging innit, me fink he should just sing it in english innit, bit bet’ah, whatchu fink mommy”... Oh No.
Like we said, boh dalam blender, pastu buat akok. (Blend and make akok). Let’s not go there.
Started with Idlan sending me a link to a site on songs by Halim Yazid. This guy is currently a lecturer in one of the universities in Malaysia and sings dikir barat which I have translated here to Deekay West Side to give it an urban feel because we’re all urbanites yo!
The beauty of all the songs that he’s created made me wonder what it would be like if he does collaboration with Snoop Doggy Dog or Nelly. It’ll be a hit I think. We’ll leave Mariah Carey out for now. I don’t think Nik Aziz will be pleased with that.
The first time I heard of him and got sucked in especially with the Tupai song, was when my dad came over for my graduation in Southampton 4 years ago last week. It was my birthday as well and so his gift was the cassette by Halim Yazid. Not that he meant it as a birthday gift.
We listened to it on the way to Cornwall, which was a 6hr drive, to Penzance, to London, to Bath, to name it, anywhere, I had all the lyrics in my head by the end of the week.
He absolutely adored the guy and I think I know why.
Halim doesn’t write a typical dikir, a lot of his work touches anybody who understands the language because in between those perfectly rhyming verses he’s passing on advice and teachings from merely observing a small mammal like a tupai (squirrel) daily routine to a hard knock life of his own growing up in a rural area with everything in scarcity, money, food and transport, but still persevere with his education to get to where he is now. You learn about the man himself, his struggle through university with his father at home struggling to make ends meet, and you learn about life many little lessons, through his eyes.
What makes his stories particularly touching is because, Kelantan, being the least developed state in Malaysia back then and even is still now, has little resources. Most families struggle to obtain education. They have to bergadai bergolok (pawn everything that they have) just so their children can enter university in high hopes that they’ll change their own fate.
Halim’s generation which is also roughly my dad’s generation, if you imagine, is the generation now the fule behind the ruling of the country. The menteris, the chairmans, the CEOs, the managers, the many leaders in the many big organizations and big companies. If they are from Kelantan, they didn’t get to where they are now easy, but why is it that some of them tend to forget that?
Many return during Hari Raya with their BMWs and Mercedes whatever class their hearts desire to clog up our ancient roads. It was worse than LDP at 6pm on a rainy day that particular year. They left their big houses in TTDI or Damansara and brought back their big cars and big wives who adorn big necklaces and big handbags along with their children with big KL vocabulary. They complain endlessly about the state of the road, the state of the congestion and the state of how things don’t change much since the last time they’ve been back. What a lost and what a shame.
My question is, why don’t you come back to Kelantan, get the political dispute sorted, start pouring money in and bringing in investors into the bloody state? Save the complaining part for your big fat minging wives and get your ass moving. Easy for me to say I know but why not? If there's a will there's a way and it's about time.
If you are a Kelantanese, you will have no problem understanding this song. If you are from the west side ( orang kay ell la kan) you’ll find a ‘high’ standard of Bahasa Melayu and English translation included.
The rest of his work can be obtained as mp3 on
http://dkbarat.tripod.com/halim.htm
Kecek Dengan Anok (Talking to My Son) -click to listen
Anok ambo tanyo nok wak gapo peti sejuk
Anak saya tanya nak buat apa peti sejuk
My son asked me why do we need a fridge
Ambo kato gunno nok boh ike tok sey wi bughok
Saya kata berguna nak bubuh ikan tak bagi busuk
I said very useful to put the fish so it doesn’t go off
Jame oghe tuo paka sie belah perut
Zaman orang tua main siang belah perut
Long ago, they just slash the fish gut out
Bubuh dalam botol buat ngasse ike jeghuk
Lepas tu bubuh dalam botol buat mengasam ikan jeruk
Then stuff in bottles to make pickled fish
Dia tanyo pulok nok wak gappo beli blender
Dia tanya pulak nak buat apa beli blender
He then ask me what do we need a blender for
Mama nok wak akok tok nyusah kepok telor
Mama nak buat ‘akok’ tak nanti susah susah pukul telur
If mama wants to make akok (a special sweetcake) she won’t need to torture herself whisking the eggs
Kito lesung takdok gonni mudoh wak mesing laddo
Kita ni lesung pun tak ada, jadi benda ni mudah nak buat mesin lada
We don’t have pastel and mortar, so this is useful to blend chilies
Lumat cepat terlajok tok ngecik masok mato
Lumat extremely cepat tak percik masuk mata
Blends extremely quick and won’t get into your eyes
Bakpo ghumoh kito ado puyok leterik
Kenapa rumah kita ada periuk letrik
Why do we have an electric rice cooker
Lalu ambo kato dok die gak adik
Lalu saya kata diamlah anaku
So I said to my son, hush my son, listen carefully
Goni keno ado kito nok wak nanok nasik
Benda ni kenalah ada nak buat tanak nasi
This, we must have to cook the rice
Tinggal pun takpo nasik kito tok hangit
Tinggal pun taka pa nasi kita tak akan hangit
Even if we leave the cooker, the rice won’t get burnt
Bakpo gak papa ghumoh kito ado tv
Kenapa kan papa rumah kita ada tv
Why then papa our house has a tv
Gonni gunno besa sebak tu la papa beli
Benda ni gunanya besar sebab tulah papa beli
This thing has a big use, that’s why I bought it
Cerito ado gamba brito brito menteri
Cerita bergambar berita berita pasal menteri
The stories have pictures and also gives news about the leaders
Nanti adik besar baghu adik tau sdiri
Nanti anakku dah besar baru lah anaku tahu sendiri
When you grow up my son, you’ll understand you’ll realize it yourself.
Oghe sebelah ghumoh dio beli karaoke
Orang sebelah rumah beli karaoke
The Jones next door bought a karaoke set
Adik toksoh susoh bendo tu papa tokse
Anakku tak payah susah hati benda tu papa tak mau
My son, don’t despair papa has no desire for that
Bendo takdo pekdoh baik kitto toksoh mikkey
Benda yang tak ada faedah elok sahaja kita jangan fikir
Things of little benefit, let’s not waste our time thinking about it
Keh kito ado doh kaset2 hok papa dikkir
Kan kita dah ada kaset kaset dikir papa
All these cassettes with me in it singing , we shouldn’t need anything else
Maghi tughut papa kito gi beli computer
Jom ikut papa kita pergi beli computer
Let’s follow me to buy a computer I said
Nanti papa aja belah manno nok gunno
Nanti papa ajar macamana nak guna
I’ll teach you how to use it
Zaman mencapai internet corridor rayo
Zaman mencapai internet corridor raya
We are reaching the status multimedia super corridor
Bilo adik panda adik buleh jadi kayo
Bila anakku pandai boleh jadi kaya
When you grow up my son, you’ll attain wealth.
A few things that Idlan and I found out as well is that, bini Halim rajin buat akok (his wife can bake akok which is a kelantanese sweetcake quite complicated and tedious to make), and our generation is probably the last one to be able to appreciate dikir barat . My children will probably have Yorkshire accent and upon accidently playing Halim's cassete would probably shriek, “Mommy whats wif this man, he’s singing or wailing or wot, it’s a bit minging innit, me fink he should just sing it in english innit, bit bet’ah, whatchu fink mommy”... Oh No.
Like we said, boh dalam blender, pastu buat akok. (Blend and make akok). Let’s not go there.
