Lu Bay Song Wah Shiok Ee Aar?

The lingua franca of Penang in my days was Hokkien, and I believe it still is, at least on the Island itself.

'Tis a Hokkien that is uniquely Penang in character, tones and pronunciation. Virtually every Penangite speaks it (or they used to) – Chinese, Malays, Tamils, Malayalees (Keralites), Telugus, Eurasians, Punjabis, Thais, Burmese, Indonesians, and even some European residents.

The Chinese and some Indians and Malays in the ‘outer regions’ [;-) sorry lah, wakakaka] - like Perlis, Kedah and as far south as Taiping also speak Penang Hokkien, but as their respective locations from the island increase in distance, the cross cultural-ethnic use of this language decreases. Also, some subtle differences in terminology were noticed to have crept in.

One amusing example of the differences in terminology has been the word shiok.

I am not sure of its current status but shiok has proven to be a wonderfully versatile word. Probably derived from the Malay word seronok which means pleasant or agreeable, shiok has been used in many contexts, as in:

Shiok loh, chin chnea hoe cheah = 'Fantastic (or 'marvellous', or 'delicious'), it tastes great!'

Knwa tioh ee liao pun shiok kaar boi see = 'It’s just marvellously wonderful (beyond description) to be able to see her', or 'Blissfully rapt to see her'

Shiok hor ee tioh paar – 'He/she rightfully deserved to be slapped', or more vindictively, 'Great he/she was slapped'

Lu shiok ee aar? – 'Are you in love with her?', or 'Do you have the hots for her?'

Bay shiok laar, ee titi p’aah ee ay knia – 'It’s just terrible (or 'I'm just disgusted') he/she keeps beating his/her kid'

(in some cases above, the tense could be present or past)

But no proper Penang lady would ever ever ever dream of using this very masculine word, considered as too crude for women. No Penang parents would take to a boy or man who uses shiok in front of them or their daughters.

Penangites expect shiok to be used only among males and preferably between peers. It’s extremely uncouth, crude and rude for a person to say it in the presence of a lady, or a person who is more senior (in age or social status like a school teacher, and especially a headmaster).

Employing this shiok word in the presence of your girlfriend’s parents or senior members of her family usually means you are toast, an uncouth lout whom their daughter should avoid and not befriend.

The Penang ladies would instead use the polite word song which carries the same meaning but is considered refine and polite.

Men use song to their credit as it bespeaks good breeding. I can't tell you what was its origin, but song has always been the word used by Penang ladies and well mannered gentlemen and good boys (like kaytee wakakaka). But alas, many had been the times during my young days when mum rewarded me with a slap or two for uttering the shiok word in front of my aunts. It wasn't too bad with uncles though she would still give me the evil eye.

However, song cannot be used in the various manner that shiok could, probably because refine words aren’t that versatile. For example, one couldn’t utter 'wah song ee' to mean 'I love her', though one could of course say 'wah shiok* ee'.

* Usually Penangites would say 'I suka ee', demonstrating the Islanders' intrinsic preference for the best choice of words (adopted over the years from a fantastic range of languages available locally) to keep their lingua franca smooth flowing and pleasant sounding, thus endowing Penang Hokkien with the description, given by KL Hokkien sweeties, of 'sexy Hokkien'

In fact, 'wah song ee' would carry a connotation that's very sexy and Kama Sutra-ish. The only possible and meaningful interpretation of this odd phrase (carrying an out-of-place song, instead of the more appropriate shiok or the more popular suka) would mean 'I am pleasuring her' - oo la la, mama mia - though if this is meant, then the correct way to boast of this ... er ... competency (or achievement) should be 'wah hor ee song'.

But then, why use such formal and refine language to say something so naughty and personal when shiok would do just fine.

Mind you, 'wah shiok ee' can also carry a different interpretation like 'I lust for her' or 'I have the hots for her'– that’s both the flexibility and the peril of a colloquial (informal) word like shiok.

However, I noticed that women in the ‘outer regions’ wakakaka, like Kedah, use shiok routinely, unlike their Penang sisters who are (or maybe only were) very conscious of the social-verbal taboo of shiok for the gentler gender.

I first came across the use of shiok by the fairer ones when I talked with a few ladies in Alor Setar. Initially I was utterly stunned.

I thought they must have completely forgotten my presence and thus erratically or inadvertantly mouthed that no-no word, but I soon learned that in Kedah, there was no conscious social restriction as would be the case in Penang.

In fact Kedahans weren’t and probably still aren’t even aware of the distinction Penangites place between shiok and its polite substitute song.

“Never heard of it,” retorted one sweetie defiantly when I attempted to explain to her the difference, of course only after I had become better acquainted with her.

Well, as the Malays say, 'Lain padang, lain belalang' – literally 'different fields have different types of dragonflies (or grasshoppers)' meaning 'different places, different mores'.

But then, I noted that she stopped using shiok ever since, well, at least when I was around, wakakaka.

Now, what's the meaning of the title of this posting - Lu Bay Song Wah Shiok Ee Aar?

'Are you unhappy that I love (or, 'have the hots for') her?', wakakaka.