My Favourite Malaysian MetaphorEach metaphor chosen here satisfies two requirements: 1. It is distinctively Malaysian and 2. It either brings out the romantic Wan or ...the monkey. ~~~~Memanggang Sate Ria~~~~ No Malaysian wants to be a sate. I am sure no one enjoys being cincang, cucuk and panggang. A sate is never alone. There is always a tukang sate around, busy fanning glowing red charcoals to cook the sate thoroughly. In fact this is one of my mom's favourite saying: " So-and-so is roasting sate." Then we know so-and-so is working hard blowing things out of proportion and ultimately causing internal strife. Jeff Ooi made the effect even more devastating by coining the term 'Sate Ria' to Malay politics as Sate Ria is overtaking Sate Kajang as the symbol of Malaysian sate. ~~~~Basikal Bujang Lapuk~~~~ "Hai Bujang lapuk tak boleh harap In this song, P.Ramlee's old bachelors ride on equally old bicycles. A bicycle full of ulcers and ringworms must be in the rustiest condition imaginable. No wonder the old bachelors are frustrated to the point of breaking their nerves.As they peddle hard, they breathe in air and breathe out smoke! Hi hi hihhhhh ~~~~Kubu Yang Kebal~~~~ "Mungkin nanti kau jua merasakan A wall is an effective barrier. A fortress , thicker and taller, even more so. In her song "Biarlah Rahsia", Siti Nurhaliza wrote about someone who refused to have tender compassion for her . It was virtually impossible for Siti to communicate her feelings to the other party behind the impenetrable fortress. ~~~~Kata-kata Pedas~~~~ Pedas is the hot, spicy sensation that burns your tongue after you have eaten chillies. As a nation who loves chillies excessively, it is only natural we prefer to say words that burn as chillies instead of ...stinging remarks. Kata-kata yang memedaskan hati therefore, are words that stab your heart. Ouch! ~~~~Zombi Kampung Pisang~~~~ Metaphorical zombie movies abound in the West. Put them in Kampung Pisang, they become corrupting elements of foreign culture that contaminate Malaysia's local values - through their infectious fangs. Well, at least that is how the director wants to portray his Malaysian zombies. Mind you, they are hot cakes in the box office. ~~~~Patah Sayap Bertongkat Paruh~~~~ Jentayu is a song packed with metaphors. Personally I feel this first line of the chorus says it all. Wings means livelihood to a bird. With its wings cut off, the Jentayu is doomed, assuming it didn't bleed to death, eventually starvation will take its toll. But this Jentayu uses its beak as as walking stick the way a cripple uses crutches to keep on the fight. This well illustrates the hardship Wan Azizah endured and Usman Awang has dedicated this poetry to her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The equivalent for 'metaphor' in Bahasa Malaysia is metafora also shared by Italian, Finnish, Czech and Latvian. As I searched for metafora on the internet, I got results in all the languages mentioned above. So if you are looking for the Malay version, you should specify the language you want in the search results. It seems metafora can be easily confused for simpulan bahasa, or Malay two-word idiom. Maybe it's due to expressions such as 'couch potato'. Another example, to steal one's heart is mencuri hati , however, this is classified as a simpulan bahasa. It is advisable to check your kamus simpulan bahasa if you are not sure.
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