Pantun Baba Chan : The Art and Beauty of Traditional Baba Malay Poetry (Bilingual text and Online audio recordings in English and Baba Malay)

Pisang mas di-atas peti, Ada dua biji bekembar; Cakap menulis kita mesti, Baru Hidop Bahasa Baba * * * * * A comb of golden bananas, Bear two ripening twins; As we strive to speak and write, Baba Malay will thrive anew. Pantun Baba Chan is a collection of 100 original pantun poems written in Baba Malay over a period of 15 years by Baba Chan Eng Thai, a prominent member of Singapore's vibrant Peranakan community. Chan's poetry celebrates the traditions of his community and a nostalgia for the old ways—ranging from favorite foods to rites of passage to commemorations of famous people. The book also includes a hilarious pantun "duel" between the author and G.T. Lye over WhatsApp. The pantun is an oral poetic form with a rich tradition dating back many centuries. Written in Baba Malay, a Creole tongue merging Malay with Hokkien Chinese, these poems express complex emotions in quatrains with an ABAB rhyming scheme. They were extremely popular in prewar Singapore but are now considered a dying art, although a revival is currently underway. Makan Sampay Mabok [a pantun on Life] Sedap enak makanan Embok, Kuah lada masak ikan pari; Bila Baba makan itu laok, Sampay mabok tak perduli. * * * * * Exquisite food of the ancestors, Stingrays stewed in spicy pepper; A Baba will eat till he's dizzy, And carry on fully unbothered. Pantun Bukit Brown [a pantun on Death] Kopek kachang buang kulit, Baru boleh makan biji, Hidopan dunia mata kelek, Beranak mati nasib janji; Empat penjuru suma manusia, Putus jiwa tak balik dunia, Perkara ini bukan rusia, Di-sini Bukit Brown akibat-nya. * * * * * Peel a peanut to find its seed, Discarding skin and shell, Life ends in the blink of an eye, Birth and Death meet us all; All beings from all lands, Cease to be when life ends, Not at all a secret, We meet this truth at Bukit Brown. This book is a labor of love—the first collection of Baba Malay pantuns published since the early 1900s and the first to present parallel English translations of the poe