Wednesday 16 May 2007

"Sam Jiu"

About 3 months ago, I was somewhat considered a new social-political blogger by a school of bloggers. While I don’t consider myself a political blogger, I do blog about social issues. A fellow blogger mentioned that lately, the direction of my blog has changed, particularly since the passing of my mom. I have to admit, that’s true.

There are a few reasons to it. My interest in exploring and writing about life is one of them. And I realised that there are many people out there who share the same notion. Secondly , I realised I have quite a number of international readers (;P), so blogging about Malaysian stuff ain’t gonna make sense to them.

Another reason is that I realised no matter how hard we scream or shout here in blogs regarding “Malaysian” social issues, it will always fall on deaf ears. I am not discouraging all the social-political bloggers out there, certainly not. In fact, you’re all my heroes and heroines. Your energy and never-say-die attitude deserves much admiration.

But one of the main reason lies in an ancient Chinese saying….

“sam jiu”
(directly translated: heart shine)

It refers to things that we already know by heart, that we already know the answer without having to talk about it. In other words... it means "Isn't the answer obvious?"

Take a look at the photo below (courtesy of TVsmith), how many of us have seen this before? How long has such things been in existence?

But how come the authorities were surprise about the existence of “kereta potong” last week? C’mon… “sam jiu” la…

The authorities also screamed and so promisingly proclaimed that they will clamp down mat rempit activities. Remember those countless statements in the press aka as the only source of news that we can trust. But are those Urukhais still roaming our streets? And why? C’mon…"sam jiu” la…

How come some datuks can so openly insult women in the parliament and we are all supposed to take it as a joke but when a “joke” is uttered from the mouth of certain people, it is considered “samseng” and “kurang ajar”? C’mon… “sam jiu” la…

How come if you and I mention about certain things, they are considered sensitive but if mentioned by not you and I, it’s perfectly fine? C’mon… “sam jiu” la…

How come after putting up this entry, I might land myself in trouble? Am I spreading lies? C’mon… “sam jiu” la…

Anymore "sam jiu" situation that you can think of?

I have always been told that debates in the parliament can be quite… err… “passionate”. Having viewed a few parliamentary clips, I couldn’t agree more. But what I really don’t understand, is how can some people can appear so well-mannered when they were a candidate eyeing for a parliamentary seat, looking all so intellectual while giving speeches, but when they are finally doing what they were elected to do, they can be of the total opposite? And I am not only referring to the gomen component parties members, I am also referring to opposition members.

Below the infamous caption of the recent “bocor” fiasco and observe that both gomen and opposition members were both actually attacking each other when they were supposed to deal with the issue at hand.




P/S: Word verification is temporarily up to avoid spam and any comments deemed inappropriate will be zewtily deleted. Why? “sam jiu” la…

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

the meaning of chinese sayings are not easily translated into english i suppose. a lil confusing. 'heart shine' = ?

Rabbit said...

So much so of sam jiu cases hor? Tsk tsk tsk. *shakes head* There are lotsa places which are similar to that in the car picture, especially in Port Klang I guess.

rainbow angeles said...

I not very understand this 'sam jiu' also... can I say like this, "Ei, u not yet reply to my 'invite', sam jiu la?"

LOL... OKKKK... just kidding :P (I really not sure of this 'sam jiu' phrase la...)

ps: But seriously, you have not replied a certain invite I sent you wor...

SuLee said...

it has always been like that, i can say out loud right here , right now, is because of status!!

and alot of it has to do with money! yes thats right! $$$

as i mentioned - why was my family being looked down since young? sam jiu lah..is MONEY and STATUS! it plays an important role especially within family...sad huh?

P/S: your word verification very long lah

Theodwyn said...

Is it heart shine? Or heart reflection? ie... go look at yourself in the mirror and see what your heart really saying..

Anonymous said...

i also have many sam jiu cases.

1. Why Sami Vellu never get fired after all the government buildings leaked and putrajaya buildings runtuh?

2. They say petrol won't increase so fast. What'd you think :P

3. Govt was asked to settle all the building construction debts. You think they really went and pay back meh?

4. and many many more...

so "SAM JIU" laahhh...

confessing7girl said...

humm i didnt got it!! when r u suppose to say sam jiu?? and what is that picture about??old cars? im sorry i feel very silly!!

Weig said...

And Zewt just taught Banana-Cirnelle another Cantonese word.

Wah... why the word verification so many letters but doesn't form a word one ah? Sam jiu-loh! He he.

me said...

don't want to say much. why? sam jiu lahhhhhhhhhh

these ppl like samseng debating on the streets lah, not like our representative.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

i like..sam jiu la..should hav posted this earlier mah..yest nite i swearing at sami bulu bcoz the "special tunnel" created massive jams on jln sg besi..sommore at 9pm also..

now i can calm my self haha

Horny Ang Moh said...

"Sam jiu" in manderin sound like 'banana'. Correct me if I am wrong.Agree with u. Before u kick a dog see who is its owner!!

JamyTan said...

Very interesting.

Anonymous said...

when i first read it i thought its mean 3 moves.......hahaha sam chew.....thought u wan to do some SFII combo or soemthing

interesting use of the phrase...

no.1 sam jiu incident

y me and u neva go local uni...sam jiu lor....

Eileen said...

I going back to Malaysia to experience "sam jiu". I hope I can master "See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil" in life. But "sam jiu" lar.

zewt said...

samantha - hmmm...i tot i have given the meaning behind the saying in the article already? well, in my zewtpinion... it simply means 'it's understood'. for example... why malaysia can never qualify for world cup... 'it's understood'... it's like the answer is so obvious, there's no need to talk about it. better?

rabbit - yeah... everyday we malaysians have to 'sam jiu' non stop. those mechanic shops so blatantly display their 'stok potong'... now only they say they wanna stop kereta potong... sigh... sometimes, reading the newspaper is like reading comics.

angel - u refering to the 19 may thing? FA cup final ler... dont think i can make it :)... not sam jiu ok? hahahaha... i am sure zeroimpact also will be watching the final. c'mon... dont tell me u dunno what is sam jiu.

SuLee - Look down on you cos you’re not rich? Sure or not? The diamond for your mom was so the very incredibly big who. C’mon, sam jiu la… hahaha… jk jk ok? Yeah, I know how you feel. Trust me I do. Word verification only temporarily la… will be turned off soon enough.

Theodwyn - good translation. it did cross my mind but i reckon it's easier to say 'heart shine' as compared to 'heart reflection'. partly also becos 'heart shine' is commonly used amongst my mates. but then again, i am sure u get the flow... right?

april - ahhhh... u certainly get the flow... that's exactly what i am trying to say... so we all shout and scream in blogs... rather futile... cos... sam jiu laaaaaaa....

confessing7girl - hey! so sorry... this is the reason why i asked where you're from. this article is very much about malaysian social scenes. you cant blame yourself for getting a lil lost... :) thanks for reading it still... i truly appreciate it.

Purple~MushRooM said...

Sam jiu is not heart shine la... this is direct translation. The underlying meaning is "we knew it deep down".

Aiyah.. whats the use of blogging political issues... we all sam jiu la. But what i would like to focus is.. every gomen in every country is the same... ok. I heard from ppl everywhere... china, US... they all also sam jiu... but can do nothing abt it.

zewt said...

cirnelle - ok... u learnt a new phrase but i think your usage is a lil... not right... haha

me - ahhh... precisely. exactly why i dont blog about these things much anymore. just read it elsewhere and satisfy myself with plenty of 'sam jiu'...

constant craver joe - hahahaha... i read somewhere it's gonna be 4 bucks! when that happen, sure many will go back to the toll free roads... why? sam jiu laa..... hahahaha....

hor ny - banana is 'heong jiu' woh... hahahaha....

kayatan - interesting indeed... i bet you're refering to the video...

economist - hahahahaha, yeah, your mind must have been filled with the desire to be world warrior already. that local uni issue... definitely a 'sam jiu' thing... if i were to list down all the sam jiu thing... wonder how long it will be.

princess eileen - so long as you can master the 'sam jiu' trick... you can certainly avoid all evil...

purple mushroom - ahhh... most definitely. i read in a blog lately, a very intelligent post about how a person who has spent 12 years of his life in UK / NY and came back and say things are not always rosy on the other side. having said that... i think the sam jiu thing is less apparent in aussie. as for the translation... heart shine is a direct translation and it's easier to use mah... 'heart shine' la sounds more 'cool' as compared to 'we know it deep down' la... dont u think?

baggie said...

Hahahaha, its so funny to watch the peeps in the parliament toking... LOL like small kids, really.

Huei said...

wait so long edi then i realize i dun understand malay! >.<

walau all i know is they r shouting! blek!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... I wonder if our MPs will ever degenerate into fisticuffs like Taiwan? That would be a next progression...

Jorji said...

me try so hard to use that 'sam jiu' words but kenot..kenot feel the vibe.

is it 'ayat maki' or what?
like 'niamah' (Pat)?

nway..100% politics in a blog is boring and stressful! heh...

TingTitLei said...

you read tiuniasings blog right? the police rasuah case. its so easy to catch them actually but its still going on everywhere...why? sam jiu la...

you see all the prostitutes in jalan abu talib? cmon even a kid like me knows that there are hundreds of prostitutes there.. why isnt there any actions taken.. sam jiu laa..

mm sai gong la.. sam jiu..

Purple~MushRooM said...

Wah.. the youtube clip... whats that? Pasar malam? Damn funny lar.

Melyong said...

The thign is THE PEOPLE is always right. So there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with them. We are the ungrateful child that also happened to be greedy. So whatever "wrong deeds" is our greed. we are also gifted with the SAM JIU power. Ain't it good to live here?

conan_cat said...

well we all SAM JIU then can liao lor.. many things no need to speak out also we know very clearly de...

malaysia government memang promote this SAM JIU thingy. remember the time when they say they wanna cut down rasuah cases? now check here check there but nothing also... SAM JIU la...

pirated cd still everywhere, SAM JIU lah...

government servent gaji got go up boh? how much? SAM JIU lor...

oh yeah, today i got the news that the particular parliment guy apologized for his remarks on the "leaks" already. what a joke. ha ha ha.

Arena Green said...

So many things in Malaysia is being taken for granted as a way of life even though it should not have been allowed to be so, like paying "duit kopi" to govt servants to speed things up or getting out of a summons.

The reason it is so rampant is being there is no public pressure to put a stop to corruption and other unacceptable behaviour by people in power.

Recently, this "sam jiu" phenomenon was demonstrated to me by a 12-yr-old boy who asked his mom how much she had to pay the officer who caught her driving without her seatbelt on.

Let's not keep quiet about things thinking that it is somebody else's business to clean up the dirt. We need to love this country enough to want to see things change for the better.

Daily Nibbler said...

Just write whatever is 'sam jiu' to you. Blogging has limited reach when it comes to socio political issues or any issue for that matter. It will take a long time before it could reach the masses in this country. In time meantime blog from your heart, to share, to pour out. Hopefully someone would care to read and respond.

zewt said...

Calvin's wife - and they are our representatives in making decision that affects us all!

Huei - well... did you get the part where one fella insulted you?

rinnah - based on what i witness... it could happen, dont u think?

jorji - it's certainly something like niamah... but it's not an expression of frustration. haha... so i should put up some lovey dovey post to make things interesting eh?

TTL aka ah boy - you da man la... you understook it all. no need to tok 3 tok 4 la... everything also... sam jiu la....

purple mushroom - looks like pasar malam... but it's our dewan rakyat...

zewt said...

bubbly soda - hmmm... gifted with the SAM JIU power... that's a good one. Aint it a good to live here? ... C'mon... sam jiu la...

conan_cat - yup, heard about the apology. some blogs are saying that it's a directive from pak lah. dunno how true it is... you know, can never trust blogs mah. but what do u think? oh... sam jiu la...

anak merdeka - that 12 year old kid was given a first hand 'sam jiu' experience. i wonder how will it affect his growing years. yeah, i know, we must all try to make a difference. but it's not easy. and i realised, shouting and screaming in blogs aint doing any good.

daily nibbler - i would really want to extend my gratitude to you for coming here and reading my entries and commenting. it keeps me going... hopefully, i can reach out to more people.

Acrelaine said...

err.. the clip a bit 'funny'... but quite lag.. but u know what 'funny' means rite? sam jiu lar.. wtf

rainbow angeles said...

I really not sure what's sam jiu ok but now I learn a bit bit from you, so I think I sam jiu already lor... (is that correct usage??)

Cannot make it, tell lah... how I know wor? I not sam jiu ok... :P (Gee, u think I'm getting better with this 'sam jiu' phrase?? Haha..)

Ha... zeroimpact is going :P

narrowband said...

In American slang, you can use "duh".

So when people say, "Hey, isn't that the close-one-eye MP who got into hot soup over his forwarding company, and later whined about not getting the mercedes he wants? And now he's insulting his own Mom!"

You can reply, "Duhh...".

narrowband said...

Btw, I think that the phrase 'sam jiu' in Cantonese is *often* used to refer to something negative.

For example, Mr A had solicited prostitute. Then his wife confronted him, but he denied. Then the wife can say, "Got or not, you ownself sam jiu la".

So, Angel, if you're still unsure, you can think of the phrase as this English-equivalent:
"You-know-I-know-lahh..."

that's something like "sam jiu lahh". :p

Anonymous said...

'usul dua pulu ENANG' bwahahaha!

i got better one.. sek jiu la.. (eat banana).. our gomen basically ask us to sek jiu.. i have no idea what i'm talking about... sekian terima kasih. go sek jiu lar.

Anonymous said...

oh man, i just finished watching the clip. the fella BE-EM really tak boleh pakai.. hahahaha! ceiling = dinding?? :D

SuLee said...

I got that on sale! 80% off!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SuLee said...

not only that, my father did something really bad

zewt said...

Acrelaine - of cos... sam jiu la...

angel - oh... me cant ler. was supposed to go for the bloggers united gathering but decided against that too.

narrowband - hey mate... i think you just gave one of the best definition of all!! indeed... duhhhh..... and... your usage is also true. and that's also what i am trying to get at right? you know i know la...

bongkersz - hahahahahahahaha.... yeah... sek all the chau jiu... all those smelly banana... who eats? who else? sam jiu la....

SuLee - hmmm... i am sure it's still expensive... what did your dad do?

rainbow angeles said...

Haha... I really like this 'sam jiu' phrase lah... now blogging has become political liao... aisay... can't blogging be unpolitical?? TNS... Blogging should be fun, no?

Hey narrowband, so that's what sam jiu means... thankies! Hey, you should be a translator instead :P

Bee Ean said...

Probably a lot of your international readers are Malaysians living overseas. If you spot one from France it will be me. A Malaysian deep in my heart.

Your writing about Malaysian social issues will not fall on deaf ears bcos you are making us realise about the problems having in our country. Next time any menteri says thing insulting to women and some of our readers might take actions.

Anonymous said...

Why is their bahasa like pasar one?

I used "sam jiu" words quite a lot when ejek other people.. :)

rainbow angeles said...

Haa... Pssstt! The Truth Is Out There...

*cues X-Files music*

rainbow angeles said...

Oh, and I forgot to add this important bit... Sam jiu hor!!!

*LOL*

zewt said...

angel - yeah woh... narrowband gave the best interpretation... i should really employ him as my translator..!! blogging should be fun and at the same time, we must also be responsible blogger... that is... only speaks the truth, no?

Bee Ean Tee - hi there, welcome again. well, i hope to do my small part in talking about social issues once in a while. wow... all the way from france... hope to hear more from you!

seok thong - hahaha... so you and i know what i means...

angel - hahahaha.... next time la... when you guys meet up for hokkien mee in alor then can... zero will be there i am sure.

SuLee said...

wanna keep it P&C lah...if you dont mind..

**************Jz***************** said...

shit i think am really sick i thot i posted a comment here yesterday *hallucinating* i guess overdosed with paracetamols...

Observer said...

Hehe... actually I started blogging few months, didn't able to see your change of direction.

Well, I think whether to cater on non strictly Malaysians issues to your visitors shouldn't be an issue. A good writing is able to pass on any material with or without the person's understand of the original nature.

Though a lot may be "sam jiu" issue but we can't always leave it as that, when the voice is loud and united ( angry woman ), there will be response ( cabinet ask the dudes meet Sharizat, and came up an apology though lousy one ) ...and it is the " non sam jiu " attitude you will notice a wave of academic columnist r started to blunt out the obvious against the Goman on MSM lately, I've already saw 2 law professors and an assistant start making some good noise on it..

But well, again, everyone can choose whatever they choose to write... ur non politics is cool too. Hehehe..

zewt said...

SuLee - sure, i will respect that.

jaezrel - you seriously need a break!

freethinker - this sharizat thing makes me even more sam jiu. the cabinet asked her to handle the issue... she went and say... 'i accept their apology'... wah liao... and i had high hope for her... should have .... sam jiu!