TFv02 CH 11 so it begins (annotated)

Annotations for so it begins from Into the Forest.

## Page 261

**Alfian Sa’at**

singaporean writer

## Page 262

**tan chiak**

earn to eat

**kio tio**

"to have grabbed it", means stumbling upon good fortune

**tsaotsao**

runrun

**jb**

Johor Bohru

**mee goreng**

fried noodles

## Page 263

**the whole jin gang**

the whole group, everyone

**kiasi**

afraid of dying

**culling**

a selective slaughter of wild animals

**sars**

Circumstantial evidence suggests that the SARS virus crossed
over to humans from Asian Palm Civets ("civet cats"), a type of animal
that is often killed and eaten in Guangdong, where SARS was first
discovered. However, civet cats are extensively used in food production
without causing SARS in their handlers

**bodoh**

dumb

**maseelis**

rich man's car

**mong cha cha**

confused

**jalan-jalan**

stroll, walk about

## Page 264

**arbo**

of course/and then

**monge**

cat food

## Page 265

**skali**

"If you're not careful, you may find out that..."

## Page 266

**lau jerry**

lau – damn, delson, cahu (V1 696 – chau), arysil (V1 696 – arsyil) - names changed

**hoong kee**

seafood

**curi**

steal

**toa payoh**

big swamp, location in Singapore, mentioned V2 157

**kong si mi**

say what?

**kan ni na**

fuck

## Page 267

**skali**

"If you're not careful, you may find out that..."

**ah kong**

Singaporean mafia, ended in 2010

**kena hoot**

get beaten

**siam ah**

get out

**makcik**

auntie

**Page 268**

**corright**

extra correct, absolutely right

**boh liao**

dangerously idle, bored, truant

## Page 269

**hum sup loh**

literally meaning, "salty and wet fellow". A dirty old man

**ular danu**

rainbow, snake danu

## Page 270

**pai kia**

young man

**si gin nah**

bloody kid

**Hell money**

is a form of joss paper printed to resemble legal tender bank notes

**ah beng**

ethnic Chinese youths with a terrible sense of fashion

**I kill my memory**

...ries with a cheap disease. Wilco – Sunloathe

## Page 271

**kena hoot**

get beaten

**boleh one**

can be one possibility

**though**

shouldn't it be "through"?

**coat of arms**

**teh lum pah chi saht**

an expression of intense regret literally meaning "to commit suicide by squeezing one's testicles."

**opposite side of coin**

**merlion**

a creature in western heraldry that depicts a creature with
 a lion's head and a body of a fish. In Singapore, it has become a
marketing icon used as a mascot and national personification of
Singapore

**sing**

?, shouldn't it be "sign"?

**samseng**

"gangster" or "thug"

## Page 272

**mm tzai si**

ignorant of death, brave

**tao idols**

The Eight Immortals, a group of legendary xian ("immortals; transcendents; saints") in Chinese mythology

**Zhang Guo**

a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. He claimed to be several hundred years old (Wikipedia)

**Han Xiangzi**

a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. He studied Taoist magical arts under the tutelage of Lü Dongbin, another of the Eight Immortals. Han Xiangzi is often depicted carrying a *dizi* (Chinese flute), so he is also regarded as the patron deity of flutists (Wikipedia)

**ow bway ooh kwee**

Hokkien phrase meaning, "There's a ghost
behind you." Often shouted when playing football or hantam bola, to warn
someone that an opposing team member is behind them

## Page 273

**boh chup lor**

boh chup - Nonchalant; relaxed

**ai pee, ai chee, ai tua liap nee**

Literally "want cheap, want
pretty, want big breasts!". Used to describe someone with unrealistic or
 unreasonable desires or expectations.

**swee swee boh kay chwee**

"beautiful and not diluted with water" – something is perfect

**faces found in bleach**

In Volume 01, Oz found the bodies of three students murdered in water with bleach

## Page 274

**moh tuck teng**

"the best" or "cannot be topped"

**boh lang ai**

useless

**hong kan ah, goondu?**

Asking for trouble, stupid?

**ah si, ah?**

do you want to die? – here probably "do you want me to die", because jingjing is speaking

**chik ak**

1. “what a pity!”
2. verb that means to build bad karma, i.e. to do something that will return and haunt you