Bajau Blues

2008 is almost ending.

2008-11-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

at the end of 2008, I have achieved these things :

a) I lost weight! Yeahhh now I'm going to get even with the one who rubbed my belly and made fun of my weight during the AGM.

b) My baby is now 3 months plus old.

c) I found out that the motto from X Files is true

When a judge is purposely giving the counsels a hard time, who do the counsels complain to?

2008-04-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

who do we complain to?

Elections

2008-03-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

The recent Elections results speak for themselves. It doesnt matter how much sugar you coat it with, the recent election results is indeed a very bitter pill for some people to swallow.

Anyways, whats new with me? Well

I lost a little bit of weight, I got 4 kilos to go.
I'm on the verge of giving up doing the whole corporate and conveyancing thing. I mean, i've been working hard, but I havent been getting any substantial work. Maybe its just my destiny to be a criminal lawyer? Or maybe the corporate and commercial world just dont wanna cut a brother some slack and throw him a bone to chew? Come on, gimme a shot. Criminal lawyers make good corporate & commercial conveyancing lawyers because we're used to twisting words to suit our case, PLUS we're always set to be anticipative. (Trust me, in a criminal trial, you're always thinking about how to outsmart the prosecutor)
I'm giving the whole corporate & conveyancing thing one more shot, if I'm not getting any work for the next 3 months, then I'm returning to being a criminal lawyer 100%. I know the money aint much, but at least its work and it gets my bills paid, my baby's gonna be due in July, hopefully by that time my firm's will have enough work to generate a steady cashflow. Money is too tight to mention these days.

Misi untuk mengempis perut bermula.

2007-12-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

Aku naik 5 kilo. Biasalah bila baru kahwin dan baru balik honeymoon. Maka sekarang aku akan mula misi mengempis perut.

Aku akan buat "The Prison Workout".

Butiran aku adalah seperti di bawah

Berat: 85 kilo.
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Lets Speak Bajau- Lesson 3

2007-12-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Bah... teko no aku tu ta' laat blog tu after a loooonnnggg break.

Aku tu bau jo mule' lua' ta' Auckland, New Zealand (Aotearoa). Alap bana laat eh tau!. Cuaca ni alap, sajuk sajuk. Jomo ni pen peramah. Aku me'e ko' ndo ku for 12 days.

Un dikau perkara la yang paling aku kagum pasal laat New Zealand tu. Jomo Maori ni masih kekal te' gai ampun jatidiri. Aku kagum. Boi tintamku te' dau, banga jomo jomo Persatuan Bajau tu ngogo New Zealand untuk ngenda' pien Maori tu maintain gai ampun cultural identity. Ai dentahun no since lawatan eh, nyaun pen tekitoku bahasa Sama tu tinulis atau terua' dokumen. Sada lawatan gai eh cuma laan laan mangan angin, tapi berselindung di sebalik nama "kajian" ah? heheheheheeheh.

Sanang jo te' mau maintain cultural Identity tu. SPEAK BAJAU!!! Amun kiti jomo sama tu maintain jo ling sama, nia' akan rungai te' jomoti tu lua' laat ti. Bau no banga kaum kaum lain eh hormat ta' kiti.

Alright, now for a literal word for word translation of my entry in English.

Hey, I'm finally back in blog kingdom after a loooonnng break.

I just got back from Auckland, New Zealand (Aotearoa). Its a real good place. The weather is cool. The people are friendly, me and my wife were there for 12 days.

There's one thing that I respect about New Zealand. The Maori there are still strong and maintain their cultural identity. I respect that. There was a time I remembered reading about some people from the Bajau Association going to New Zealand to study how the Maori maintained their cultural identity. Its been a year since that visit, and I still havent seen any Bajau language being written or documented. I guess that visit's worth fcuk all!. a joyride under the mask of an educational trip.

Its real easy to maintain cultural identity. We JUST SPEAK BAJAU! If the bajaus maintain speaking Bajau to one another, our cultural identity wont fade out. Keep our language alive! Then we'll get respect from the other native groups.

A new phase

2007-10-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, 26th October 2007, I got married at Masjid As Sobirin, Jalan Pedada, Kg Sipanggil, Putatan.

I'm now a married man. Alhamdulillah...

Wedding pics will be posted up once I got them from my photographer!

Lets Speak Bajau - Lesson 2

2007-10-17T17:24:00.001-07:00

Now,

In Sabah, there are many tribal groups. Each group has its own distinct characteristics and mannerisms.

Bajaus (East Coast or West Coast) usually are said to be :

a) Thugs
b) Vengeful (Old wounds heal slow)
c) Like to pick fights...
... what do you expect, we're descended from pirates & horse thieves. Come down to the KK Courthouse Lock-Up, keep your mouth shut and listen to the people inside the cell. You'll hear them speak Bajau.

Today, we'll learn on some common and typical Bajau cusswords..

a) Bakas - Pig
b) Palui- Dumbass
c) Sampar- I think this is a kind of ghost. Usually used in swearing also.

Usage :

a) Bakas kau tu - You Pig!, Bakas bana pen gai tu tau - Pigs (they are bunch of)

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Lesson 3 we'll start with the regular words.

Do you have trouble peeing / pissing?

2007-10-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Could be your prostate flaring up. I've got just the thing for you. Call me to find out!

"You must accept the past."

2007-10-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

My sister said these words yesterday, when she heard me fuming about some stuff. She's right lah!

See, I didnt "exist" in high school. You know how high school society was always divided into two classes? The "In" crowd (jocks, good looking people, cool people, people who went partying & clubbing, etc) and the "out" crowd (bookworms, nerds, ugly people, and people who were close with their parents, momma's boys, etc). I was a bookworm, overweight & pretty much outcasted.

Some people from highschool were talking about how they know my fiancee, cause she has a sister, who dated this dude. This dude was one of the good looking people. (Now these people were from the "In" crowd.) I cant help but get annoyed, because highschool (and the years surrounding it) is a period that I would like to delete from my memory. Hell, the past is the past, dont try and taint my present and my future by saying that you know my fiancee. To me, high school years are like skidmarks on my boxers. I'm trying hard to get rid of them, but they're still around. I'm only inviting a few people to my wedding... (the ones who never made me feel like I was too lame to roll with them). Its my prerogative.

My sister, (who is basically my best friend... since its been the two of us growing up... gaduh2 tapi last last when we need help, I know she's got my back, I got hers.) Told me this, "You must accept the past".

My fiancee said basically the same thing. Except she added "Its your choice ba if you want it to bother you. You can always ignore it".

Today, as I walk to the courthouse. I'm leaving my past behind... and I'll take my anger out on my opponent.

alhamdulillah... syukur.

2007-10-16T01:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the fourth day of Raya.

My client, came in the office today, and told me he was going to pay what he owed me. Yesterday, I went to his boss' house, and his boss asked me whether my client paid his fees. I told the boss, that since my client's case was dismissed, and he's discharged, I wasnt charging him my full fees cause it'll be cruel. (ayat aku was, "Saya tak mahu la charge *&^%* [aku sensor nama client aku] lebih lebih, sebab kes dia tak sempat di bicarakan. Saya cuma charge setakat mana kerja saya buat la). So I just charged him for the work that I did.

I went to the boss' house yesterday, and today he walks in smilling and told me that he'll be paying what he owed me tomorrow. It aint much, but its nice to know I've got some cash coming in tomorrow. At least I'll be able to buy my staff a Raya lunch. (I'll wait for Hasnih to get back.)

People who affected my life.

2007-10-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

The following are the people who affected my life.

1) Datuk Chau Chin Tang - My pupil master, he's the one who made me grow some teeth. Ya ba, before I met him, I didnt have the bollocks to stand up. Also, everything I needed to know about being a criminal lawyer, I learnt from him. Bukan itu saja, everything a son should've learnt from a father, I learnt from him also. (yep yep, from the age of 20 til 24++, I literally grew up with 2 women, my mom and sis. Jadi pengisian "ayah ke anak lelaki" itu kosong. Somehow, working under Datuk Chau, filled in that gap. Aku ingat lagi one time tu, dia marah2 aku, dia cakap "I wouldnt be scolding you if I didnt treat you like a son". After that, aku masuk office, and cried.) Oh ya, there was one time, he gave me a scolding because I was too soft and out of shape. I remembered he said "kau ni, macamana kalau orang bawa gaduh?" I said "saya panjat pokok, datuk!". He said "Kau boleh ka? bAIK Kau pergi bodybuilding". Then I went to the gym.

2) Puan Sucy Ng & Encik Thomas Ting - My bosses after I left Chau & Thien, they showed me an entirely different aspect of legal practise. A practise that involved dealing with corporate clients, and banks. Under them, I learnt a lot about civil litigation, and also PR work. It was Puan Sucy yang cakap pada aku that when you're on your own, you cant be picky. Puan Sucy was the one yang waited outside the delivery room when my mom delivered me, also, she was there when my dad got married. Encik Thomas Ting pulak, is one very very nice and cool boss. He's chinese, tapi boleh berjoget! Terkejut aku. Also, dia pakar undang2 perkapalan. Banyak aku belajar dari mereka. Malangnya, I lack the patience to do civil & corporate work, so I returned to my criminal roots

3) SAC II Hamza Taib - This man's words of wisdom, I carry with me til today. Thank you.

4) Encik Hamid Ismail - If there was ever a "Lincoln Lawyer" in human form, this man is him. Also, he's my learned leading counsel for this drug case we're doing. One of the young, rising stars of the criminal defence world. Check out his blog, you'll know what I mean. One of the best advice he gave me was " KAu kena berani berkata "Tidak". ". When I first started out on my own, a few bumiputera lawyers were giving me a hard time,dissing my name card, playing saying that they want to ask SLA to close down my firm la, minta SLA ambil tindakan because signboard aku besar sangat la. Hamid (and Muammar Julkarnain) was one of the few who backed me up.

POst Raya Blues.

2007-10-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

Today I've got a trial at Magistrate Court, Tuaran. Hari Raya ke 4. Ada kes. Cilakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!

Mari belajar bahasa bajau (West Coast Bajau, Te

2007-10-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings and salutations.

Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa. Dewasa kini kita banyak melihat suku suku kaum peribumi di Sabah dan Sarawak tengah berpusu pusu mengekalkan identiti mereka melalui bahasa.

Bangsa Bajau, suku kesayangan aku ni , the tribe that I sometimes foolishly thump my chest and flare my nostrils for... cakap ja lebih ba. Balik2 cakap mau buat kursus la, itu la ini la, tapi its been years down the road, habuk pun tiada.

Maka, demi martabat bangsaku, aku akan mula menurunkan ilmu bahasa bajau melalui blog. It aint much, but its the best that I can do.

Basic Bajau Greetings

1)How are you? = Yen Abar?
2)What is your name? = Siyen oron nu?

A breakdown of the two phrases is as follows:
Yen Abar = Literally, it means "What" (Yen) "Happening" (Abar)

Siyen = Who is, Oron= Name, nu = Yours
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How we address people

Usually, we Bajaus usually address our friends (male friends) as follows (Please note that I'll put in the bajau term first, then the meaning, and then its area of usage), its kinda like how the hip hop people use "Homey", and the Philipinos use "Pare".

1) "Ki" = Which is short for "kaki", which means "cousin" (heheh, I think Snoop Dogg pun guna term "cousin" kan in his speech? Hip hop juga Bajau ni). This term is usually used by the Bajaus of Tanjung Aru, Sembulan and Papar.

Examples of usage
"Ngogo minggo kau tu Ki?" -
Ngogo- going, minggo- where, kau- you, tu- that, Ki- Cousin?

2) "Se' " - it means "friend". This is used by the Bajaus of Kota Belud (my kampung!!)

Examples of usage
"Ngogo minggo kau tu se' " ? = same meaning as above, but I changed the term "Ki'" to "se' "

Alright, how do you go about addressing a senior?

The propoer term to use is "SIOKO" - which means "elder brother". (it can mean elder sister also).

Once at Court, I met this Bajau guy who was under remand. Initially, I thought he was Philipino, cause he was speaking English 24/7/365. Then I heard him speak Bajau to another guy. Then I spoke Bajau. He was startled, but impressed that there was a lawyer who spoke Bajau. To cut a long story short, he addressed me as "sioko". The sentence he used was as follows:

"Sioko, amun nia' kau tu ling sama sini', bara'ku kau negro jo"

Translation
"Big brother, if you didnt speak Bajau just now, I thought you were Black"

Amun- if
Nia'- didnt,
ling- speak
Sama- Bajau
Sini' - earlier, just now
Bara'ku- I thought

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Thats all for today. Hopefully next time I'll be able to school all of you in Bajau cussing! hehehe Fighting words' next!

This is my first post.

2007-10-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today is 14th October 2007.

Its the 2nd day of Raya, and I've been eating like there's no tomorrow. Damn I'm scared. Good thing tomorrow I'll be spending some time with my boo. She's my high. Tempat aku berteduh di saat hati aku rusuh dan membusuk.