Annotations for zhong, the fourth chapter of One Rainy Day In May.
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Page 100[]
quote
from Bad Romance.
Page 101[]
saysay
In singlish, reduplication is used for intensification
jingjing
in traditional Chinese medicine Jing means “essence”. It can also mean spirit.
lah
particle used to strengthen a suggestion, persuasion, or objection, or to soften a negative reaction thus marking solidarity. It's very common and of general meaning. (Also in the variant ah)
Polong
Malay for a spirit enslaved by a man (most of the time) for personal use. Like the Hantu Raya and Toyol, it has a master. It is an unseen ghost that can be used by a black magic practitioner to harm someone. It is particularly meant to harm other people, especially when the owner has wicked intentions towards these people (Wikipedia)
siaosiao
very crazy
void deck
an open space typically found under apartment blocks in Singapore. The void deck occupies the ground level, while apartments are usually on the second floor onwards. Void decks are a space for community mingling and functions are often attended by neighbours across the ethnic spectrum (Wikipedia)
cat
first mention of cat in the book
meenite
midnight
Page 102[]
mah
usually at the end of a sentence to argue a point: e.g. crowd the void deck like it their own mah (102) ("they occupy the empty deck like it's their own, you see?!")
seow
crazy
langsuir
a woman who has died in childbirth and turned into a vampire and now feeds on the blood of infants
lai dat
like that
tua tao
gang leader
mebbe
maybe
changi
area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore. James Clavell based his novel King Rat on his experiences as a World War 2 Allied prisoner of war at Changi Prison (Wikipedia)
macam
like
tiam
shut up
Page 103[]
tua kang
tall tale - a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual + literary „big hole“ – echoing "rain is just water with holes in it. Adding up to one big hole" (67)
kiasi
afraid of dying
auntie
A general term for older woman
Tian Li
from Confucianism - it means natural ordering or pattern. With the connotation that the ordering comes from the heavens and is put in Nature/universe
Page 104[]
niu che Shui
Chinatown
seri
? The Seris are an indigenous group of the Mexican state of Sonora
Serangoon
town situated in the central-eastern part of the city-state of Singapore
Smith Street
a small street running through the heart of the Chinatown district in Singapore. A local joke has it that the road got its English name when the British asked Chinese locals the name of the road, they given clueless answers "See mee?" (Hokkien for What?) as they could not understand English. Thus they duly recorded the name as "Smith" instead
sei yang gai
street of the dead - Sago Street - a street located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area of Singapore. The funeral parlours are located on nearby Sago Lane and not Sago Street. However, Sago Street is always referred as sei yang gai or "street of the dead" in Cantonese. There are many cemeteries there
tua
age
tan ku ku
forget it!
talk cock
talk nonsense
pang chui lao
Forget about it!
吾餐之肉足矣
(Cantonese chinese is very hard to translate, so these are just approximations. Credit goes to TBHalo & tonywang) If in this meal I eat enough meat, then I will (feel) satisfied. / My meal of meat is enough./I've got enough meat in my meal
吾岁饱吾
I was full / For my age I am full.
波女の多様な説明は, 逆に反比例して少しのことしか説明できない
As for the woman, I can only say so much OR She, on the other hand, I can't tell you much about.
как будто у него не хватило бы духу
as if he did not have enough spirit
Page 105[]
一系讲一些荒谬事干,比如:
A series about some ridiculous things dry, such as:
"若如田需, 心然乃仅为人之习性"
"If, as the field required, then the heart is the only person of habit." /“If needed, heart is only for the people of the habit“;
toa payoh
district located in the Central Region of Singapore
pearl's hill
a city park in Singapore
绿, xanh lục, हरा, 綠色, зеленый, 緑
The word 'green' in Chinese (simplified), Vietnamese, Hindi, Chinese (Traditional), Russian, and Japanese.
sentosa
popular island resort in Singapore, visited by some twenty million people a year
以树之道与树语.
"When you talk to trees you must use the language of the trees" (trying to say like, you have to communicate with people in language that they understand, or, cater to your audience)
Page 106[]
monkey
„tian li swinging her arms around like repelling monkey“ – probably tai-chi
mata
police
oreddy
already
heng
lucky
poh geok ek
former Director of. Singapore Prison Service
quek bin hwee
Bin Hwee is Vice Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, (PwC) Singapore and a member of the firm’s Leadership Team. She is also a member of the PwC Global Strategy Council Market Leaders and a member of PwC Asia Pacific Board
yaacob ibrahim
a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is the country's Minister for Communications and Information, and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs
harun abdul ghani
Former Singapore MP (People's Action Party), died in 2005
bodoh
dumb
kena rotan
corporal punishment. See also Caning in Singapore
kin kah kin chew
fast hand, fast leg
kena
fall
sana staff
Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association
Page 107[]
命中所困符为汝之愉
"you won't be caged by the tragedy of pleasure".
芳之所获符繁茂,汝符知汝知此女台终
"captured in the fragrance of a place is the abundance of it's blooming signs, if thou knowest these signs thou knowest this woman's end"
OR If you have a problem in your life, that makes you happy.
黑暗止于勇者
Chinese phrase "darkness braved ceases to be darkness". It also appears in English in Xanther's text in TF4.313
OR
"There is darkness until somebody brave arrives." But this phrase has two parts in real life, the second part is 謠言止于智者 - "There are rumors until somebody wise arrives"
sabo
sabotage
hdb
Housing & Development Board is the statutory board of the Ministry of National Development responsible for public housing in Singapore. It is generally credited with clearing the squatters and slums of the 1960s and resettling residents into low-cost state-built housing (Wikipedia)
kai kai
walk walk
Page 108[]
不用普通话
Not in Mandarin
唔系粤语
Not, you see, in Cantonese
Не по русски
Not in Russian
日本語ではない
Not in Japanese
lao cheow
old bird
chiak buay liao
cannot finish eating
Page 109[]
Johor Bahru
capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia (Wikipedia)
ku dé ta
14,500 square feet of luxurious space that spans a restaurant, a club lounge and a poolside terrace (in Singapure)
cabut
flee, escape quickly
tony tan
President of Singapore (Wikipedia)
gahmen
government
Page 110[]
pang chui lao
forget about it
forbidden hill
In older times, the native Malays called the fort canning hill Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill
fort canning
small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore (Wikipedia) According to Clip 4, a graffiti inspired by Darc's Zoo appeared here (C4 171)
suaysuay
catastrophe
Page 111[]
wah lao
wow!
chin kim tang tang
dripping with gold, dressed richly
This some
echoing Luther lingo
alamak, heng us
Mother of God! Lucky us!
Raffles Place
a geographical location in Singapore, it features some of the tallest buildings and landmarks of the country (Wikipedia)
battery road
a high-rise skyscraper located in the central business district of Singapore (Wikipedia)
collyer quay
16 Collyer Quay, formerly Hitachi Tower is a 37-storey, 166 m (545 ft), skyscraper in the central business district of Singapore (Wikipedia)
tua kee
big shot
siao liao
already gone crazy
吾仅一事末了.
My only issue the end. / Just one thing – the finality. / I got only one thing left unsolved
Page 112[]
他说他会付钱绐你,井绐我们茶
"He said he’d pay you, and give us tea"
boh chup
nonchalant
Page 113[]
他可干吾衣
"Can he dry my clothes?"
他不是只有一件,而是整个衣柜的干净衣服
"He doesn’t just have one piece of clothing, he has an entire wardrobe of it."
| Previous chapter | Next chapter |
|---|---|
| Square One | Big Surprise |