(Version in Hokkien)
Ch’eng Kai Snar
Ow Kai Si
Sio Kar Chwni
Chi Chneh
Kow Thni Kwni
Nor Chneh
Jit Thau Chiok Khar Chwni!
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(Version in English)
Flap three times up front
Flap four times behind
Let the wave heat the buttocks
Upon the first rise of day
It’s already the breaking of dawn
On the second
The sun already shone on the backside.
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About the Rhyme:~
This is a ritualistic rhyme taught by taoist temple mediums to mothers. A sort of remedy to appease offsprings who appear restless and refuses to sleep. In this rite, the mother holds a stack of white papers and flap it on the baby while she utters the rhyme. At the end of it, that stack of paper was burnt. Of course, it is more or less a believe.
The author/owner has compiled for record, a collection of early Hokkien sayings, proverbs, rhymes and ditties to capture the essence and spirit of his hoi polloi, a community originating from the southern province of Fujian, China where individuals climbed aboard bum boats, crossing the South China Sea to settle in faraway lands to escape the brewing civil unrest and a way out from hardship carrying along with them in their journey, nothing except their trademark ponytails and their beliefs, very much rooted in Confucianism. These proverbs and sayings has always been a guide and lesson to the many who has never been to school so as to help them steer well in the river of life and in a way, it seeks to retell their lifestyle way back then so that the younger generation can gain an insight and foothold to their origin..
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