A3phien3 [a-phiɛn] is a Hokkien rhyme about opium. Written in the early 20th century, it served as a public service announcement to the Hokkien community to stay away from the drug. The A3phien3 poem offers a glimpse into a period of time when opium taking was a menace to society. It warns of the dangers for becoming addicted to opium and talks of the resulting circumstances.
This poem was first recited to me by my elderly nanny when I was small. My nanny was born in the late 19th century, and lived through both world wars. I managed to remember it long enough to have it transcribed and published in the Pulau Pinang magazine in 1990.
Recently I discovered that Raymond Kwok has also included it in his book of Hokkien rhymes and Ditties. In fact, it is the first poem in the book.
I am re-writing this poem now using Taiji Romanisation, and am sharing it with you below.
Your ribs resembles a flight of stairs,
Your belly like a water barrel,
Your thighs like the grasshopper's,
You'd be leaning on the wall to put on your pants.
The following version, contributed by Ng Chee Lam, is in Chinese and Taiwanese Romanization.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.