BOLO' WO'
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.
Labels: bolo', dahaga tekok, jalang kaki, lapo perut, serabut perut
