Da Blogs Da Thang: I was watching...

I was watching...

Published Monday, April 25, 2005 by lecram sinun | E-mail this post

"Lord Jim" the other day... a movie that I had only seen snippets of until a week ago. Based on the Conrad novel the major part of the action is set in the part of the world that a few of us originate from. I enjoyed the movie. It was cool to be able to understand what the "natives" were saying. I remember watching "Swiss Family Robinson" as a kid and being thrilled that I understood what the "pirates" in that movie were saying.

That elation was soon replaced with insult.
"How dare those Mat Salleh film-makers make pirates speak Malay!" Of course, this was the precious mind of an 8 year old who has since discovered that Malay is one of the oldest pirate languages in the world... and that entire cultures of pirates still troll the waters in that region to this very day. I've actually come close to an encounter with them... but thats another story... nevermind... anyway.

I do have to admit that I'm a little partial to "guy" movies made in that era... "Bridge on the River Kwai, "Lawrence of Arabia" etc. O.K., truth be told... I love big epics. I actually own quite a few of them on DVD. Biblical epics! Adventure epics. All manner of epics. But thats not why I began this post.

Lets get back to "Lord Jim." ... and the title of "Tuan." It was used several times in the movie... Tuan Jim - a title of respect.

The Malay word "tuan" has many conotations. Master, Sir, Lord or Gentleman.

Tuan, was the name the neighbors in the old 'hood' called my dad. He was "tuan" and my mother was "missy." These terms were hold-overs from the old colonial days... "titles of respect" primarily used to address the British masters and their wives. My father and mother were locals.

And another thing, we lived in "government quarters" in the Kampung Pandan area. As I recall, these were "class 4" quarters. My father worked as a "chief clerk" in several government departments over his career... middle management at best. So, the title of "tuan" did not come from a "class" perception.

I concluded some years ago that in the case of my parents, "tuan" and "missy" were respectful terms of endearment that they had earned through action and interaction.

6 Responses to “I was watching...”

jade ed girl on April 25, 2005 9:34 PM

Hmmm... makes me want to go visit with Gertie.
lecram sinun on April 25, 2005 10:56 PM

do it.
Anonymous on April 26, 2005 12:50 AM

I remember when it showed in Malaysia, my mum and dad were so taken by it that they had to drag the kids to see the very next showing of it. It was in PJ and I was very sad for the end.
Lelly on April 29, 2005 7:02 AM

I've never understood why ma never taught us to speak Malay. Maybe it was because dad was a 'British master' and my brother Tony and I went to the British army school in Seremban, and she knew we would be spending our secondary education (and future life) in England.
I feel rather ashamed that I know so little about my Malay side.
Still it was good to go back in 2002 (having left in 1969!)lots of memories and was nice to be able to 'teach' my English, never-been out-of-Europe-well apart form school trip to the USA)-partner about my admittedly often 'colonial'childhood. We rented an ex-local's house near a fishing village called Gong Balai on the non-commecial (but fundamentalist-controlled) East Coast in Terranganu, but made the long trip to the West Coast to stay in KL, visit my cousin Anna and her husband, friend Richard Lau and my mum's fiend Una. Also went back to Seremban and managed to find the house we lived in when I was a child (and the Sungei Ujong Club where we seemed to spend every afternoon in the pool!)
Hope to go back again and spend more tome on the West Coast including Pangkor Island...which is where I last saw Lecram! (Remember that fishing boat, the roof of which we used to dive off?)
Lelly on April 29, 2005 7:04 AM

God! The spelling in that piece is atrocious!!!
lecram sinun on April 29, 2005 10:07 AM

Yeah, lelly... the last time we saw each other we were diving off the roof of that fishing boat into the Straits of Malacca.