40 MALAY PROVERBS. 



" Malial-lah Imam," too dear, Imam, or, "it won' top, 

 my good Sir," lias grown into a slang phrase in Perak to 

 signify a refusal. The origin of the phrase is as follows : 

 Raja Che Sulong of Tipns in Perak, an ancestor of the last 

 Raja Bandahara, lost his only son, Raja Allang Ali, who 

 fell ill and died suddenly. The usual train of pious men 

 who haunt the funerals of the great attended on the occa- 

 sion to perform the necessary ceremonies and to receive the 

 customary dues. The father, inconsolable for the loss of 

 his only son, met them with the exclamation, " Hidopkan 

 anah tenvin dahulu, jika hidop berhabis tsman jika tidak 

 mahal-hal Imam. Raise my son to life first ; if you can do 

 that, take all I have ; if not, you are too clear, Imam." 



289. Hiking adat tegah dipakat. 



" Law disappears before a strong combination." 



Justice suiters when there is a party strong enough to 

 set the laws at defiance. The power which a Chinese secret 

 Society exercises would be aptly characterised by a Malay 

 hy a use of this proverb. 



290. Handak di telan termangkalan, handak di ludah tiada 

 kaluar. 



" Would you swallow it, it sticks in the throat ; would you 

 disgorge it, it will not come forth." See l N To. 125. 



291. Hltam, hitam gajah ; put eh put eh udang kepal. 



" Black, the blackness of an elephant ; white, the white- 

 ness of a handful of shrimps." 



There are many shades of colour among Malays though 

 they all seem brown from a western point of view. A fair 

 complexion is more admired than a dark one. The proverb 

 defends the dark skin and ridicules a fair one. 



292. Orang bahru kaya jangan di utang 

 Orang lepas nikah jangan di tandang, 



" Don't borrow from a self-made man 

 Don't visit a newly married couple." 



The Asiatic nonveau riche, who is unaccustomed to the 

 possession of much money, is an extortionate creditor. There 

 is a good deal of worldly wisdom in the advice to avoid both 

 newly made fortunes and newly married couples, borrowers 

 to the one and visitors to the other being equally unwelcome. 



