DOK SOH LAH

"dok soh lah" is in Terengganu dialect, that roughly translates to "tak payah lah" in bahasa Melayu or "you dont need to" or rather "why bother yourself" is a clear example of how our words describe our attitude and to some extend our culture. In the east coast state of Terengganu where my parents were both born, raised and call their kampong, people are often heard murmuring these words that are passed as something resembling words of wisdom or sound advise. "dok soh lah" they would say. You think aloud your intentions of moving out of the kampong filled with rich promises of a better lifestyle.. "dok soh lah, sini pong dok abih lagi" comes the sound advice from someone who tried, failed and now contented to spend his final kampong living days with urban facilities.

Lucky for me, my parents were quite adventurous when it came to travelling and as soon as they had the opportunity, left the fisherman village to join the hustle and bustle of city living where they stayed, work, had children and eventually died. If not for their determination and dexterity, i too would be breathing fresh sea breezes in my childhood life and grow up to be as cool and relaxed as a beach boy.

In fact, all the people in terengganu to me are as cool as a cucumber and as relaxed as our local express bus driver on his midnight run. Slow is a word often used describing people from the east coast but not to explain their wits, no not by a mile. They are the most cunning of all malays ( look at all the malay car dealers around kl) and possibly the most enterprising what with their authenthic Malaysian cuisine (kerepok lekor, nasi dagang, ikan singgang) and games (gasing, wau). What i mean by slow though is the pace they carry themselves by. So slow that lounging seems to be their favourite past time. The monsoon does play its part too, since they mostly are fishermen by trade and so the strong winds and giant waves makes them redundant and their days empty. At these times the only thing worth doing seems to be gathering around the kedai kopi and enjoying light banter (mengumpat) with friends and foe alike.

Its natural then, when a person suggest something drastically out of the ordinary and a little too physically taxing for them when in a relaxed mode, for the answer to be positively negative and unenthusiastic in a way that would be met with a heavy sigh.. "dok soh lah" they would say.

Which neatly brings me to the title of my blog, an idea i was playing with for quite some time and always, when the suggestion came out from me, was met with mixed response. Some, like my close friends who just loves to see me make a fool of myself, would give great advice and push. Others, like my relative from the east coast, would ponder, ask me what a blog is and if they can buy it from the shop to read what i've written, would just squint one eye, cross their hands around their heads, fall back down the kerusi malas and mutter in a totally cool fashion the words i should have known was coming anyways...

"dok soh lah..."

-AFY-