Tua Pui (The Fatso), Penang Hokkien Rhyme

Text

Tua2 Pui2 tua3 hai3-hai1,
Phak1 si4 boh3 lang3 cai1,
Am1meh2 ya3 khee1 tai2,
Ma1cai3 co1 bong3pai2.

Tua2 Pui2 tua3 lork1-lork3,
Pang1sai4 te1 cua1lork3,
Cua1lork3 te1 be33 liau4,
Tua1 Pui2 ka3ki3 ciak3 ka1 leow4!

Translation

Fatty is very, very fat,
Beaten to death out of sight,
Taken to be buried in the night,
With a tombstone erected at daylight.

Fatty is very, very gross,
Into a paper bag his crap goes,
When the paper bag gets too small,
Fatty simply ate it all.

Vocabulary

Commentary

Even in early 20th century Penang, obesity is not something to be proud of, and those who are extremely overweight are often the brunt of jokes. This Hokkien rhyme, Tua Pui, pokes fun at the obese, who are often equated with laziness and sloppiness. It is an age when there was no such thing as being "politically correct."

Although it is not kind to taunt those who are overweight, I preserve this rhyme as it is, to show the often derogatory nature of the Penang Hokkiens, who often have a superiority complex and condescend on those who are different from them.

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