STUFF WE SING TO KIDS

Someone in the office mentioned about the 'dodoi' songs (lullabye) currently being aired on radio, where Shiela, Ziana & Dayang sang some traditional malay lullabyes. It's in an effort to retain an almost-forgotten culture, although some of the songs were sang in a pop or jazz style, so defeats the purpose of it being a lullabye or kiddy song, yuch! So I asked, OK what is your favourite lullabye or nursery rhyme, or even traditional songs we used to sing as kids?

Chesyu : "Air pasang dalam..."
Cheza : "Air pasang pagi ler "
Me : "Bukan, air pasang dalam "
Chesyu : "Air pasang dalam, surut pukul tiga "
Chemaj : "Pukul lima la! "
Cheza : "Haah la wrong timing la hang, air pasang pagi surut pukul lima..."
Me : "Aiyo... air pasang dalam, surut pukul lima la!!!"

Such a simple kiddy song pun, so many versions? Memang la perlu ada usaha untuk re-introduce these songs or nursery rhymes to our next generation. I myself could recall only a few common kiddy songs like Rasa Sayang Eh, Can Mali Can, Geylang Si Paku Geylang. Itu belum pikir about folk stories lagi, like Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and Pak Pandir. Banyak yang dah lupa.

Eh, what's with all the violence ye? Rock-a-bye baby, and then the baby and its cradle fall from the bough, with presumably fatal consequences. Which sick person had placed the baby and cradle on top of the tree in the first place? Jack & Jill broke their crown while tumbling down the hill. Frankly getting away with just a gash like that must be a miracle. Che Baba jatuh dalam parit, Che Aminah ketawa jerit-jerit. Yikes, what rude mannerism Che Aminah has.

Then there was the Lagu Tiga Kupang, which we initially thought was an original nonsensical malay nursery rhyme, tapi rupanya is a translation of "Sing A Song Of Sixpence". Ni sixpence tukar jadi tiga posen, pakai currency exchange rate zaman bila ni? :-) Cheza came up with "lompat apek, lompat", to which Chemaj promptly replied to "hoi, tu lagu P.Ramlee dalam Ali Baba Bujang Lapuk la! tapi ada satu lagu tu yang nenek, nenek si bongkok tiga, tu lagu dodoi kan?" To which Cheyah menyampuk "kau pun salah, itu pun lagu dalam filem P.Ramlee, Musang Berjanggut tu" We ended up laughing at ourselves, masing-masing memory pathetic betul hehehe :-P

But one kiddy song really takes the cake la. Cheza's nephew learned it from his teacher in preschool, it's a translation of 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' :-
"Bek bek kambing, kau ada bulu tak? Ya tuan, ya tuan, tiga karung penuh"
Goodness gracious! We couldn't stop laughing for a full 3 minutes hahahaha :-D