Hail to mother tongue

> One of the stars in Saw Teong Hin’s You Mean the World to Me is the Penang Hokkien dialect spoken in the film

BORAK-BORAK

WHEN film director Saw Teong Hin told me in 2015 that he was going to make a movie in the Penang Hokkien dialect, I stared at him in almost disbelief.

It was that “oo nya boh?” or Penang Hokkien for “is it for real?” look.

And when You Mean the World to Me hit the local cinemas in early May, I was so happy that he had succeeded.

As a Penangite, this was something to shout about as Penang Hokkien (also spoken in Kedah, Perlis and upper Perak) is rather unique. This is because the dialect has incorporated a smattering of Malay and English words in it.

Ask John Ong, one of the strongest proponents of Penang Hokkien on the web.

Truth be told, I saw the movie twice because I was a few minutes late the first time. I hadn’t missed much, but the second time around, I managed to appreciate it even more.

It was originally slated to be screened on this Chinese New Year but luckily, the timing was deferred as it was a rather serious movie.

Serious because the movie’s storyline involved some ‘demons’ that had been playing in Saw’s mind for a long time.

It was a valiant effort on his part to expunge those ‘pixies and nixies’ that had troubled his early life.

It wasn’t easy to deal with a mentally-challenged sibling and the perceived unequalled love his mother showed towards him and his sibling.

Good acting from Singapore’s Neo Swee Lin, who played the mother to the main character Sunny, played by Frederick Lee; and Ah Boy, played by John Tan.

Evan Chin was sexy and cool in her role as Sunny’s Aunt Grace, the woman who had sacrificed her life for her hare-brained younger sister, Vivian (Chelsia Ng), by not following her Australian boyfriend back home.

It was a story within a story. And reality hit when internationally-acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle panned to the actual gravestones of Saw’s brother and mother.

The movie was a semiautobiographical account of his life, Saw said, describing the poignant movie as a story of sacrifice, compassion and redemption.

“Working on this project was a therapeutic experience; the whole process helped to put things in perspective,” he explained.

Saw added that the project also helped him to make peace with himself.

The movie’s flashbacks and zipping to the present may be a bit hard to follow at times.

Still, it gave a good portrayal of some refurbished heritage buildings in George Town like the Majestic or Tai Wah Cinema, Loke Thye Kee Restaurant, and the laid-back Sekeping Victoria Café, which cleverly uses the length of an old house to full advantage by planting trees inside the premises.

I could also identify with some of the 1970s scenes like the beaches off Batu Feringghi, bar hostesses in trishaws, and the hundreds of Australian servicemen in Penang then.

The project had a Hokkien dialect coach to help the actors with their lines.

Nevertheless, I noted one or two instances where the dialogue was not spoken with the requisite Penang Hokkien twang.

So, if you aren’t from Penang, it’s not that easy to imitate it, folks!

The movie also had a Punjabi watchman speaking in so-so Penang Malay.

Saw could have spiced things up a bit by also getting the trishaw pedallers to speak Penang Malay to give it a better local flair.

And, whether based on a real-life incident or not, I will never forget Ah Boy’s priceless quote: “Ta por khia bay sai bo lui” (a boy must not have no money).

Jeff Yong, after making his mark in the twisty maze of mainstream journalism, has finally decided to enjoy what he does best – observing the unusual and recounting the gleeful. He can be contacted at lifestyle.borak@gmail.com.