Side effect of P.Ramlee

During the recent Raya season, apart from a lot of cerita2 hantu (why ah?) on TV, there were also many P.Ramlee movies on, including the Bujang Lapok series. I watched them with Amani to show her another side of life that was not Disney-inspired. Her first question as we watched the black and white movies was where was the colour? But after that, she got into the stories and the jokes, laughing especially during Seniman Bujang Lapuk scenes "Tapi lubang hidungmu tetap menjadi pojaan hatiku"...I didn't realise though how much she had really absorbed. Granted, we were watching comedies but the language can be a bit strong at times, "Bodoh!" "Bahlol" which is somehow more satisfyingly descriptive and insulting than the standard F-word.

So it shouldn't have been a surprise when on Raya ke-4 after we checked in at a hotel in Melaka, my little 4 year old Disney princess happily greeted the bell boy in a cheerful and innocent voice, "Hello Setan!"

I have never felt so horrified and embarassed and hillarious all at the same time. There was also a lot of explaining about what setan / devil actually was and about how they looked like and where they stayed, which I was totally unprepared for during what was supposed to be an easygoing overnight holiday. Yippee motherhood! It just keeps getting better and better.