You can’t sing this popular Malay 1970s song without turning heads in Sabah
October 30th, 2007What else but A Kadir’s 1975 classic Lontong?
In the peninsula, it’s a delicacy.
Usually it is “nasi himpit” (compressed rice cakes cut into cubes), then added with “sayur lodeh” (vegetable coconut curry). The vege can be cabbage, long beans, carrots and fried tempe (kind of beancurd). Tofu can also be added into the curry. Finally, peanut sauce is added on top. Some stalls add other things like slices of sotong (brown calamari), hard boiled eggs and/or grated coconut.
But over here in Sabah, it’s a kind of poison that’s sometimes used as a murder weapon. That’s why it sounds pretty funny: a song asking people to go eat poison!
Try playing this song loudly, or use it as a ringtone… I am not sure about the reaction in Sabah it initially got when it was first released.
Back to the vocalist. A Kadir, real name Kadir Abdul Rahman was born 1952 and apparently a Singaporean. Performing with group The Breakthru / The Breakthrough he released the song in 1975 via the Putera Kodok LP. He was 23 yrs old then. The LP also contained another classic cover “Papaya Ciku Ciku.”
The song was so popular that he was forever nicknamed “Kadir Lontong”.
He’s got one of the best tenor voices I’ve ever heard.
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Wah. Haven’t heard this song for ages! I think I heard this when I was like 12 years old or something…
This is from your own personal record?
How I wish. When it first came out, I was not even in primary one! It’s from “internet sources.”
This song makes you shake your hips man… “sedap betul lontongnya bu!, tapi takda duit”