Sambal Ikan Bilis (II)

Ini ikan bilis; ini kacang.

"Beep beep beep! KT has reached maximum capacity of her Behasa Melayu."

What?! That is so not true. I know lots more Malay words . . . like, um, nasi lemak, mee rebus, ayam, ikan, babi, pulut, pisang goreng . . . .

No, it's not just food words I know. I can count up to 10 in Malay, and I know colour words like hitam, hijau, merah, puteh and biru. I have to confess though it's food, like kacang puteh and nasi kuning, that helps me remember the colour words.

I also know "majulah Singapura" means forward Singapore. Believe it or not, that's the only part of Little Red Dot's national anthem I understand. The rest is just gibberish to me, most of which I don't even pronounce correctly.

If it's any consolation, I'm not alone in my ignorance. Wiki says (link):

 The majority of Singaporeans are clueless about the meaning of their national anthem. Only 1 in 7 know the meaning of each word.

Only 1 in 5 are able to sing the anthem perfectly. Singer Taufik Batisah, who is Malay, isn't one of them. Instead of bersatu, he once sang berseru.

 About 1 in 10 can recite only the first line, or not even that.

One-time Deputy PM Rajaratnam once said, "Anyone over the age of five, unless mentally retarded, has no difficulty singing the anthem."

Ha . . . ha . . . ha . . . oh dear . . . .

Well, better late than never. Time to find out, I guess.

*google . . . click click click*

What the . . . !

I'd always thought "forward Singapore" meant forward in terms of economic growth. Hell no, it's actually happiness. Sama-sama menuju bahagia means: let us progress towards happiness together. Happiness? Gee, what's that? According to the Happy Planet Index, Singapore is the second unhappiest nation in Asia.

After looking up the meaning of each word in the anthem, I can now compose two Malay sentences: Marilah kita masak! Marilah kita makan! Come, let us cook! Come, let us eat!

Marilah kita click sini for the resipi. Please click here for the recipe.