Suukee厝邊

Suukee厝邊

Click for full article with English Translation of Suukee Lyrics

Suukee YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmS5ug_Lyk0

Suukee is a very important Hainanese phrase. Suu: house, Kee : side. Because family lives very close by in the Hainan village, and therefore Suukee, means neighbor, and neighbor usually is close relatives. Whenever one addresses each other "Suukee" it means they are very close like relatives. And if you see anything bearing the name Suukee, it is definitely related to Hainan. (A good lesson for me!!)

This Suukee厝邊raps is about Namewee going back to Hainan for his root. The theme is in Hainanese, some in mandarin. The raps is Malaysian culture specific, outsiders will find it intrigue how we speak, mixing different dialects, Malay and English etc. The content is something like this: Grandfather left Hainan in a grass hat, short pants with 11 dollars in the pocket. He worked very hard selling roti (bread) spread with butter and Kaya; black coffee ( Kopi O). During holidays and festival, he sent money back to support the village. & 70 years later, his grandson goes back and was mistaken for a thief. He realizes he cannot understand the local Hainanese because the styles, the slang used in the language are very different. Even Hainan chicken is different.

Namewee goes back to his root, and find out he don't belong there. He can't communicate with his neighbor ( relative),and he doesn't have the love for the land like his grandfather. He can't relate with his relative although they still share the same working ethics. He will bring back the memory to his grandfather, but he wants to go back to his own home in Malaysia. Young NameWee is brilliant. He puts in so much emotion/ memory in a single song. He conveys a general feeling of Hainanese and in a broader sense, the Diaspora of the oversea Chinese in the last two centuries.

The main theme is in Hainanese :

海南人講海南話

海南咖啡真好喝

Hainanese speaks Hainanese. Hainanese coffee is delicious

我們都是 Suukee Suukee 我們都是Suukee Suukee

Suukee Suukee We all are Suukee

You will find it more interesting if you follow the lyrics on the movie. Following pages is my attempted translation, it is quiet difficult, but I try to follow Name's thought. I translate them for Francis, Michael and those who want to know their roots. And thanks to Namewee's talent, I never think I appreciate Rap that much!! I don't know a sentence our Ah Kong/ po said "Hainanese speaks Hainanese. Hainanese coffee is delicious". So ordinary means so much!!

Suukee means your neighboures. We always address 同乡，Suukee, that means we are closer to each other. 这样称呼会感到特别亲切。当在外你与朋友说了老半天，最后才晓得他愿来是海南人，我们就会很自然脱口说（唉呀，都是Suukee, Suu= 厝 Kee= 边，
住在我们屋子旁边的不就是邻居吗？在海南乡下，住在你左邻右舍的肯定是你的至亲，堂的或同宗，错
不
了。谢谢你给我们抄来这
首
海南歌。---兰娜