Pantun Baba Chan: The Art and Beauty of Traditional Baba Malay Poetry (Online audio recordings in English and Baba Malay)

Pisang mas di-atas peti,
Ada dua biji bekembar;
Cakap menulis kita mesti,
Baru Hidop Bahasa Baba

* * * * *

A comb of golden bananas,
Bear two ripening twins;
As we strive to speak and write,
Baba Malay will thrive anew.

Pantun Baba Chan is a collection of 100 original pantun poems written in Baba Malay over a period of 15 years by Baba Chan Eng Thai, a prominent member of Singapore's vibrant Peranakan community. Chan's poetry celebrates the traditions of his community and a nostalgia for the old ways—ranging from favorite foods to rites of passage to commemorations of famous people. The book also includes a hilarious pantun "duel" between the author and G.T. Lye over WhatsApp.

The pantun is an oral poetic form with a rich tradition dating back many centuries. Written in Baba Malay, a Creole tongue merging Malay with Hokkien Chinese, these poems express complex emotions in quatrains with an ABAB rhyming scheme. They were extremely popular in prewar Singapore but are now considered a dying art, although a revival is currently underway.

Intan Berlian [a pantun on Life]
Kerosang berlian locket intan,
Cucok sanggol mas merah;
Jari chinchin biji bintang,
Nyonya berkebaya cukop lawa.

* * * * *

Diamond-set brooch and locket,
Warm glow of golden hairpins;
Her finger a celestial gem,
Nyonya adorned in radiant kebaya.

Makan Sampay Mabok [a pantun on Life]
Sedap enak makanan Embok,
Kuah lada masak ikan pari;
Bila Baba makan itu laok,
Sampay mabok tak perduli.

* * * * *

Exquisite food of the ancestors,
Stingrays stewed in spicy pepper;
A Baba will eat till he's dizzy,
And carry on fully unbothered.

Pantun Bukit Brown [a pantun on Death]
Kopek kachang buang kulit,
Baru boleh makan biji,
Hidopan dunia mata kelek,
Beranak mati nasib janji;

Empat penjuru suma manusia,
Putus jiwa tak balik dunia,
Perkara ini bukan rusia,
Di-sini Bukit Brown akibat-nya.

* * * * *

Peel a peanut to find its seed,
Discarding skin and shell,
Life ends in the blink of an eye,
Birth and Death meet us all;

All beings from all lands,
Cease to be when life ends,
Not at all a secret,
We meet this truth at Bukit Brown.

This book is a labor of love—the first collection of Baba Malay pantuns published since the early 1900s and the first to present parallel English translations of the poems. Baba Chan hopes that putting his words to paper will inspire others to follow suit and preserve the language and traditions of the Peranakan Chinese community.