The Encik's Tale
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The Encik's Tale.
The dog's naked whine
really pisses me off
and the neighbour's parakeet
a God of Noise.
He commands the attention
as an encik talks to his men.
Even the concrete's pores are showing
as I gazed worriedly at the grey surface.
I look upon my aged father,
squalid with age,
yet a face ruddy.
“San-sao's grandson is back.
The heavy clump of authority
unopened as of yet.
He looks at me, smiles
ever so shyly.
Will he kill a quail in Brunei?
His mother always asked me.
Sometimes I wonder
what is life.
Because I am alive,
yet I feel dead.
Mark and Linda,
they always say they
too busy
la.
I still go down to Yishun
for my stout.
And the stupid 4-D,
nah hiah, boh yiah!
Will they burn enough moneuy
when I die?
I like the paper handphone
makes me feel like a boss.
I once was a boss
you know?
They call me encik,
sergeant major.
The boys shook when I inspected
their bunk.
Peed.
So gu-niang.
And like a fan
I blew in their fresh faces;
the smoke of a thousand exercises
and more to come.
They really quaked
in their spit-shined boots
and when they sang like
the distant cousin of the parakeet.
Oh such irony.
They don'ch know I'm actually
scared of wild boars.
Thats why I hide in the Land Rover.
With Mr Scholar, the OC,
his pants also drenched
with fear.
So I saw Kaoshiung, all the mei-meis
and all the fun a guy
could have.
And I saw my old friend
die
because his tank shell exploded.
I saw a lot of pain,
a lot of wasted young lives.
Father and mother
raise them up plump
and they die a skinny man
not even with children.
Now, I think my turn has come
for a man like me,
feared by all.
But I fear loneliness,
my kakis are gone.
There's only the grey walls
and that nao hiah chiao!”
And I still look at my father
leader to many
but father to too few.
Loyal soldiers
without loyal kin.
Life is but one parade.
We must keluar baris
one fine day.
*Encik: A term for a senior warrant officer, like a Regimental Sergeant Major
*Nao hiah, boh yiah: Loosely translated to "B*oody hell, I lost"
*Mei-meis: colloquial term used by soldiers for Taiwanese babes.
*Nao hiah chiao: Literally translated to “goddamn f*cking bird”
*Keluar baris : A drill command in Malay that means “Fall out!” -
Duplicate post deleted.
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Originally posted by LazerLordz:
The Encik's Tale.
The dog's naked whine
really pisses me off
and the neighbour's parakeet
a God of Noise.
He commands the attention
as an encik talks to his men.
Even the concrete's pores are showing
as I gazed worriedly at the grey surface.
I look upon my aged father,
squalid with age,
yet a face ruddy.
Who is me in the second line? Is he the Encik? Why is the word encik in italic text? Hmm...
“San-sao's grandson is back.
The heavy clump of authority
unopened as of yet.
He looks at me, smiles
ever so shyly.
Who is the speaker here? The author's father? But why should a father be shy with his son? Hmm...
Will he kill a quail in Brunei?
His mother always asked me.
Again, who are we talking about here? San-sao's grandson? And why is the first sentence in italic text again?
Sometimes I wonder
what is life.
Because I am alive,
yet I feel dead.
Mark and Linda,
they always say they
too busy
la.
I seems to be asking many 'Who' questions here. Heehee.
Who is Mark and Linda? Are they the author's children? Friends? Sibling?
I still go down to Yishun
for my stout.
And the stupid 4-D,
nah hiah, boh yiah!
Will they burn enough moneuy
when I die?
I like the paper handphone
makes me feel like a boss.
Hahaha, those alive are burning money too by buying 4-D.
I once was a boss
you know?
They call me encik,
sergeant major.
The boys shook when I inspected
their bunk.
Peed.
So gu-niang.
And like a fan
I blew in their fresh faces;
the smoke of a thousand exercises
and more to come.
They really quaked
in their spit-shined boots
and when they sang like
the distant cousin of the parakeet.
Oh such irony.
They don'ch know I'm actually
scared of wild boars.
Thats why I hide in the Land Rover.
With Mr Scholar, the OC,
his pants also drenched
with fear.
I love the last 4 lines. So funny.
So I saw Kaoshiung, all the mei-meis
and all the fun a guy
could have.
And I saw my old friend
die
because his tank shell exploded.
I saw a lot of pain,
a lot of wasted young lives.
Father and mother
raise them up plump
and they die a skinny man
not even with children.
This is the best part of the poem. A twist in reality. Many of us NS guys look forward to be posted to Taiwan. We only heard about the the good things there, good foods, great entertainments and of course the pretty mei-meis. But we were not told about the dark side of it, death, gangsters, drugs, etc.
Now, I think my turn has come
for a man like me,
feared by all.
But I fear loneliness,
my kakis are gone.
There's only the grey walls
and that nao hiah chiao!”
'Now, I think my turn has come' Is the author (the Encik) dying?
And I still look at my father
leader to many
but father to too few.
Loyal soldiers
without loyal kin.
Life is but one parade.
We must keluar baris
one fine day.
Is the author from a broken family? Hmm...
Maybe both the author and his dad are Enciks and he is comparing his life with his dad's. -
Heh.Thanks for the kind analysis.In my head, the author is standing with his father along the corridor of a flat, and he's spouting his father's thoughts, therefore the switch in perspective suddenly.San-sao is the neighbour , Mark and Linda are the other siblings.The Encik is a personification of the older generation which built up Singapore, and I placed him in the Army, well, I'm in the mood to ponder over this Army I seem to be serving.Just thought I would write more local poetry.
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Heehee, I got most of them correct.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Heh.Thanks for the kind analysis.In my head, the author is standing with his father along the corridor of a flat, and he's spouting his father's thoughts, therefore the switch in perspective suddenly.San-sao is the neighbour , Mark and Linda are the other siblings.The Encik is a personification of the older generation which built up Singapore, and I placed him in the Army, well, I'm in the mood to ponder over this Army I seem to be serving.Just thought I would write more local poetry.
No wonder, I was thinking who is this 'Encik'??? Is he the author or the author's father???
I am thinking of writing local poetry too.