Discover with Timothy
21st Anniversary as Content CreatorGuek1 Kim3 Chnae1

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Guek1 Kim3 Chnae1 is a common nursery rhyme in Penang Hokkien. There is another, perhaps even more popular version of this rhyme, called Hoay1kim3chnae1, which means "Fireflies". This version translates as "The moon shining brightly." To me, this makes more sense, as the next verse is talking of Chap Goh Meh, the 15th evening of Chinese New Year, when the moon is usually shining brightly.

Guek1 kim3chnae1 Chap3 Goh4 Meh2
Chnia4 lu4-eh3 koo33wa4 lai3 ciak3 teh2

Teh3 sio3-sio1,
knia3 lor33 beh1 kin3cio1;

Kin3cio1 be33ki1 paek3,
knia3 lor33 beh1 chaek3;

Chaek3 be33ki1 thark1,
knia3 lor33 beh1 bark1;

Bark1 be33ki1 bua2,
knia3 lor33 beh1 cua2;

Cua2 be33ki1 liak1,
knia3 lor33 beh1 kha3kiak1;

Kha3kiak1 be33ki1 cheng33,
knia3 lor33 beh1 ka3leng3;

Ka3leng3 ko1, ka3leng3 soh4,
Chnia4 lu4-eh3 koo33wa4 sio3 en1to4!

On the 15th evening of Chinese New Year, when the moon is shining brightly, you invited your brother-in-law to tea;

As the tea is burning hot,
you decided to go for a walk and bought some bananas

Forgot to peel the banana,
so went out again and bought a book, ...

Forgot to read the book,
so went out again and bought an ink stick, ...

Forgot to grind the ink stick,
so went out again and bought a snake, ...

Forgot to catch the snake,
so went out again and bought a clogs, ...

Forgot to wear the clogs,
so went out again and bought a mynah bird, ...

Male mynah, female mynah
Invite your brother-in-law to a wrestling match !



Songs about Penang

About this website



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.
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