A twitter-essay on Beras Perang, unpolished, unbleached, lightly milled local long grain rice.
Beras perang tampi di nyiru,
Tumpah melukut merata-rata.
Haiwan yang garang lagi diburu,
Siapa takut semut melata?*
Brown rice tossed in a winnowing basket
Broken grains spill here and there
The fiercest of beasts yet are hunted
Of a lowly ant no-one cares
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*Original Malay pantun @ Nilam Sari: Pantun Melayu by Asima Abdul Latiff.
English translation mine.
Winnowing Basket from the British Museum
funny thing is the unpolished type of beras is what malays where all eating not so long ago
— bingregory (@bingregory) March 10, 2016
2/ the British noticed their Chinese coolies were developing beri-beri but the Malay coolies were not. #berasperang
— bingregory (@bingregory) March 10, 2016
4/ that’s how vitamins were discovered , right here in Malaysia. And the cause of Berri-berri. #berasperang
— bingregory (@bingregory) March 10, 2016
Not *rice*, mind you, but *the rice you eat*.
Recommends: “turn to healthier varities…try adding 20% #berasperang“https://t.co/rfLUD9fQ7a— bingregory (@bingregory) May 6, 2016