Geddit? Geddit?
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[_su_spoiler title=”Nassy.LeMac?” style=”simple”]Nasi Lemak is a traditional Malaysian breakfast of rice cooked in coconut milk, served with chili sauce and various toppings.
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That’s the whole joke, friend.
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Photo from Flickr by Avlxyz of Greedy Gourmets.
Not about martial codes, but more of a guidebook on proper etiquette (adab) in Islam. The biggest focus was on the virtue of generosity. True generosity is giving before your brother is forced to ask, because in asking, the needy one is humiliated by his need. A poem is related:
“The one in embarrassment asked but received nothing,
For when he weighed what he had received,
His pain was heavier than what had been given to him.”
The Islamic ideal of generosity is then that much harder to attain for those of us who come from “ask” cultures, as opposed to “guess” cultures, an interesting way of thinking about cultural differences that is discussed here.
I enjoyed the book, but would recommend Ghazali’s On the Duties of Brotherhood as a better first book on the topic of adab.
The Way of Sufi Chivalry on Goodreads.
Could the Booker Prize have gone to a novel that treats three generations of an extended family but remains emotionally dead-flat aside from twin swellings of self-pity and self-love? Was a career launched by a book that contains 50 years of intricately plotted interconnections, parallels and synchronicities across the breadth of the subcontinent but scarcely a single meaningful insight? Am I tired of snide snark sarcasm and twee wordplay all in the service of convincing us of the cleverness of the author? Did I really give up on a book that bloats to 700 pages with endless never-ending repeating repetition and flashback throwback foreshadow for every one plot point? Friends, it could. It was. I am. I did.
The Ottomans were very active throughout the Indian Ocean world during the 1500s despite having no access to or knowledge of the area at the beginning of the century. The author shows their exploration of the Indian Ocean is closely analogous to the activities of the Portuguese in same period. The most remarkable aspect of the story is the way Muslim peoples from East Africa to Sumatra were all prepared to give their loyalty and even their sovereignty to the Osmani Khalifah simply for showing up once with a boat or two on their shores. Aceh is described mostly just in the context of Ottoman diplomacy. I’d like to read more about the Sultanate of Aceh in that period next.
Daun inai banyak getahnya,
Ambil segenggam pewarna kuku,
Wahai adik abang bertanya,
Apa obat penawar rindu.
Thick with sap run the henna’s leaves
Take some in hand your nails for dying
O young maiden, your lover asks you
What salve is there to heal longing?
Gadis ditegus lalu dikenyit
Baik perangai pandang tak jemu
Bagai kapur bertemu kunyit
Merah inai mencari kuku
A glance at the maiden leads to a wink
Moves so fine eyes can’t take their fill
Just like limestone chanced upon turmeric
Or the red of the henna seeking the nail
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Photo: Lawsonia inermis, the Henna Tree, Pokok Inai in Malay.
Traditional pantuns courtesy of Malay Civilization.
Translations mine.
Here I thought I was laboring in obscurity translating 19th century Malay teaching-poems, when behold, Gurindams get a name-check on the radio. Check this out:
Gadis Jolobu
Produced by DJ Fuzz
Lyrics by Waris & Dato Hattan
Chorus:
Ko jolobak ko jolbu
Tuai padi tigo tangkai
Kalau kono komat jolobu
Tak mati badan menghasai
Gurindam dulu dulu jangan ponah dipotikai
Tak tahu tanyo dulu jangan goma memanadai mandai
On the way to Jelebu
To reap three-stalked rice [1]
If the Jelebu mojo hits you
won’t die but you’re bound to suffer
Don’t you ever disrespect the old Gurindams [2]
Better ask somebody, don’t act like you know
Verse 1:
Kisah eh bermulo,mulut ughang kampong
Kisah ramai gadis cantik kek jolobu berkampung
Ughang luar datang luar nak cari’an joki
Lain pulak jadi eh terpikek nak buek bini
Tapi silap,kono komat sampai tinggalkan keluargo
Kopit bawah kotiak bini tanggungjawab lupo
Omak ayah rindu tapi dio buek bodoh
Dah takdo monyosa monangih dopan kubur aiii
The story starts from the mouths of villagers
The story of all the gorgeous women of Jelebu village
An outsider came looking for work
Turned out different: got hooked, took a wife
Her mojo got him, abandoned his folks
Stuck under his woman’s armpit, responsibilities forgotten
His mom and dad longed for him but he played dumb
Now they’re gone: he cries at their grave in regret
Chorus.
Verse 2:
Ughang luar salah tafsir koba gadih kito bahayo
Lopeh coghai semuo ghoto jadi milik dio
Jangan salah anggap,napo lobihkan pompuan
Sobab laki boleh hidup kalau campak dlm hutan
Zaman dah boghubah, adat di tolan zaman
Dah takdo mewaghisi coghito bertauladan
Apotah laie, mengaku ughang nogori
Bilo tanyo suku mano nak jawab pun tak ghotiPoie tanyo omak,poie tanyo uwan
Kok takdo kosompatan buleh tanyo kawan kawan
Aktiviti bergurindam tolah lonyap dilupokan
“sebagai suatu warisan”
Outsiders get confused, saying our women are dangerous
Divorce one and your assets are hers [3]
Don’t misunderstand why our women get the upper hand
Throw a Nine Clan man in the jungle and he can still get by
Times have changed, culture swallowed by the times
No one left to inherit the teaching-tales
What more when someone claims to be from Nine Clans
Ask him which clan: he can’t begin to answer.
Go ask your momma, go ask your grampa too
If that doesn’t work well then your friends will have to do
Spinning Gurindams is an art form long forgot
As a part of our heritage
Chorus.
Verse 3:
Wak wak makan padi si lomang dalam buluh
Kok dah dapek yg dicari jgn terlansung semayang subuh
Ayam berkokok umah ponghulu itu tando haghi nak siang
Kok dah dapek oghang jolobu tak sabar nunggu malam ko siang
Waterhens eat field-rice, bamboo’s filled with lemang [4]
If you get what you’re after, don’t oversleep the dawn prayer. [5]
The headman’s roosters crow, that’s the sign the day dawns
Night or day you cannot wait once you get a Jelebu woman.
Verse 2 repeats.
Chorus.
Fin.
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1. Rice is harvested when it has 5-10 stalks, or tillers. Harvesting 3-tillered rice is suggestive of misfortune.
2. Here at Bin Gregory Productions, we are all about respecting the old Gurindams. See the Gurindam 12 of Raja Ali Haji Pasal One, Two, Three and Four.
3. The flow is in the thick regional dialect of Negeri Sembilan, a state settled by Minangkabau people who practiced some elements of matriarchal inheritance. The state has nine clan or tribal districts, from whence the name in the following line above.
4. For more on lemang, see here and here. The verse may be referring to the siamang, a type of gibbon, in which case “gibbon’s in the bamboo”.
5. Surely I don’t have to spell it out for you.
Why do they hate America? Because there is a lot there to hate, says Mark Ames. Going Postal connects a lot of far-flung points to show the creepy similarities that exist between school and workplace rage killings and early American slave rebellions. Among them is that each and every slave rebellion was led by a certifiable crazy person. When the cruelty and hatefulness of American society is invisible, you’d have to be a lunatic to see it. It may be that the rage killers were crazy *and also* that there is something very very ill about American society that they are reacting to, just like old John Brown. Not entirely convincing on every point, but a good read for an emigrant to remind himself why he left.
Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion, from Reagan’s Workplaces to Clinton’s Columbine
