Some rhyming sayings in Malay
A. W. Hamilton’s short note collects twelve Malay rhyming sayings (pantun-like couplets) gathered in Singapore and Penang, each accompanied by an English translation and a brief note on its usage context (pp. 393–395).
Summary
The sayings are presented as part of the oral conversational stock of Malay speakers that had not yet appeared in printed works on the language. Each entry consists of a two-line Malay couplet, a literal English rendering, and a sentence or two explaining the situation in which the saying is deployed — ranging from caustic remarks about importunate borrowers and mischievous children to facetious replies about immodesty and baldness. The collection is modest in scope but illustrates the range of social functions these rhyming formulas serve: reproof, jibe, joking repartee, and even a charm-like formula for inducing a meeting between a man and a maid (p. 395).