Friday 8 April 2011

Madu Tiga

Three fruit juice drinks...
Madu itu manis... tetapi bermadu itu pahit.

The beauty of this somewhat controversial Malay phrase is in its subtle reference to the connection between something that can be both sweet and bitter. In all likelihood, it was a woman who first uttered these words, perhaps someone on the unfavourable end of a marital relationship.

`Madu' here of course refers to honey, while the `bermadu' part is the situation where a man is married to more than one wife. It has long puzzled me how the tasty product of bees can lend its name to polygamy. The virtues and healing properties of honey is well-known. Even the holy Al-Quran mentions this fact. On the other hand, stories of bitter polygamous marriages far outscore those of the `happily-ever-after' kind... at least the ones that I have personally heard anyway.

It may be interesting to note that in English-speaking regions, the word `honey' is also used as a term of endearment that one would call one's spouse or sweetheart. Alas, its Malay equivalent does not normally carry the same tone of affection.

Malay men, especially those of a certain age-group, can talk about this subject of bermadu for hours on end, without the slightest feeling of boredom or fatigue. Some purposely speak about it in front of their wives, either in jest or with hidden intentions. But based on my observations, those who openly talk about it, rarely actually do it. Mostly it is the silent and innocent-looking men who are the crafty ones.

The movie Madu Tiga is one of the more famous film by the late P. Ramlee. It tells the story of a certain En. Jamil who manages to marry three women, initially without any wife knowing about the other two. Such a scenario is practically impossible in present-day situation... but if there is such a man who can do it, then I tip my hat to him.

Okay then... lest I incur the wrath of my lady friends, I'll end this post by telling that Just Observations is 3-years old today. Thank you to all friends, readers and commenters for keeping me company.

18 comments:

liyas said...

It should be 4 kan? hehe why 3 only.

Lili said...

Salam Oldstock,

Wah...what a post for the third anniversary of Just Observations carries! But don't get me wrong, it's interesting alright..hehe

"Pah...butang baju melayu aku mane daaa??..." ;)

JK said...

Good stuff!!! Visit me at http://johorkia.blogspot.com/...and leave me your thoughts...Cheerios!!!

Anonymous said...

Salam
-'Mostly it is the silent and innocent looking ........'
Ha ha ha betul tu esp yg terlampau lovey dovey ngan wife depan khalayak. Tapi tak semua ye tak.
Wajib bershukur kalau husband loving tapi hati2 jgn riak.

SFGEMS said...

Happy Anniversary! :) :) :)

Fadhil said...

Liyas, 4 is the quota. 2 is normal, 3 is a rarity...

Fadhil said...

Salam Lili,

Heheh... En. Jamil's most famous words..

Fadhil said...

Hi San Ling,

Nice blog you have there. Will read through more of it soon. Thank you for dropping by.

Fadhil said...

Anon@09:04,

The point here is try to not be overly lovey-dovey with the sife in the open, ye tak. Thanks for the comment.

Fadhil said...

Lita, thank you.

Nurie said...

Thank you Oldstock for being my first ever blogger friend.

Your blog has always had that serenity,calmness and a dash of humor that kept us entertained for the past three years. Keep it going ya!!

Fadhil said...

Noor Sham,

The pleasure's mine. Nostalgia, horror and some humour... kira cukup la masam dan manisnya ye..

Takut pasni dah takde ideanya nak tulis pulak.. hehe..

Nin said...

Picture of drinks, title that refers to polygamy but an entry that tells of a third year anniversary (of not a wedding)... hmmm... now I know not to judge a blog posting by its title.

Congrats anyway!

Fadhil said...

Nin,

I guess that just shows you what I am, the ultimate confuser... haha..

So never trust whatever I say in the first instance...

CS said...

Salam Oldstock

... and I thought I was the only ultimate confuser .. 1 entry having bla3 n dot3 *sigh*

Dah 3 tahun? Tahniah.. Lebih kurang samalah kita but mine is ilmiah-less :-)

Fadhil said...

Salam Cik Som,

So both you and I like to confuse people or are the ones who seem confused? Tq for the wish... you need not worry lah samada berilmiah atau tidak. We should write on what we like, not what others like... lain lah kalau kita cari makan melalui penulisan blog.

Sori la, kita pun dah lama tak menjenguk kat Al-kisah... satgi free, kita singgah.

3yearshousewife said...

Just observations
Happy belated 3 rd birthday

Fadhil said...

Thank you As...