Bat lau dung laai explained

Bat lau dung laai is a Hong Kong Cantonese corruption of the Vietnamese phrase bắt đầu từ nay, meaning "from now on" ( = begin, start; = "from", = "now", in Vietnamese pronounced as /ʔɓat̚˧˦ ʔɗəw˨ tɨ˨˩ naj˧˧/).[1]

The phrase was made famous in the 1980s and 1990s in Hong Kong, due to a Vietnamese-language radio public service announcement that was broadcast, nearly hourly, on public radio broadcaster RTHK.[1]

Background of the radio announcement

The broadcast was first made on 16 August 1988, which announced the government's decision to implement a screening policy that would separate refugees from non-refugees (or boat people with economic motivations).[2] The statement was read by Chung Wai-ming, a well-known RTHK radio personality.[3] The Vietnamese portion of the broadcast was read by a Vietnamese boat person who was about to be repatriated.[4]

Content of the announcement

Original text of the announcement

The radio announcement began with a sentence in Cantonese, the most commonly spoken Chinese variant in Hong Kong.

香港[政府]對越南船民已經實施甄別政策。跟住嗰段越南話廣播,就係向佢哋講述呢個政策嘅內容。[2]

This was then followed by a paragraph in Vietnamese.

Bắt đầu từ nay, một chính sách mới về thuyền nhân Việt Nam đã được chấp hành tại Hồng Kông. Từ nay về sau, những thuyền nhân Việt Nam kiếm cách nhập cảnh Hồng Kông với thân phận những người di tản vì vấn đề kinh tế sẽ bị coi là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp. Là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp, họ sẽ không có chút khả năng nào để được đi định cư tại nước thứ ba, và họ sẽ bị giam cầm để chờ ngày giải về Việt Nam.[2]

After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in Cantonese.

剛才嗰段越南話廣播,係向企圖進入香港嘅越南船民,講述香港對佢哋實施嘅甄別政策㗎。

Meaning of the announcement in English

The first sentence in Cantonese Chinese:

The message in Vietnamese:

The final sentence in Cantonese Chinese:

Use of the phrase in Hong Kong

Due to the frequency of the broadcast, many Hong Kong people came to learn the phrase. Some, however, mistook the phrase as a term of greeting,[5] similar to sawasdee in Thai.[1] The phrase eventually became a metaphor for Vietnamese people and even Vietnamese culture.

The term is now considered to be a derogatory slur for Vietnamese people.[1]

Portrayal in Hong Kong media

Early portrayal

The first recorded instance of the usage of "Bắt đầu từ nay" in Hong Kong entertainment programmes was during the 1980s, when it was used in a segment of the light entertainment show Enjoy Yourself Tonight. In the segment, a fight in the refugee camp was parodied, and two actors, using the stage names "Bắt đầu" and "Từ nay", roughed up one of the audience (played by an actor) in the "Legislative Council" meeting who was well known for creating commotions during Legislative Council meetings.[6]

1990s

During the 1990s, some asylum seekers managed to use self-made tools to cut through the fence around the refugee camps and escaped. This incident was replayed on RTHK's news parody programme Headliner. In the video, the phrase was split into the following

2000s

In the 2000s, Vietnamese cuisine became popular in Hong Kong, and the phrase, which had faded out of memory after the resolution of the refugee problem, resurfaced in an advertising campaign for a Vietnamese restaurant.

2010s

The phrase was used at least twice during the 2010s on books.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: What Does "Bat Lau Dung Laai" Mean in Hong Kong?. 19 January 2018. HK Magazine. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.. 23 September 2016.
  2. Book: Chan. Yuk Wah. The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora: Revisiting the boat people. 2011. Routledge. 978-0-203-81310-2. 19 January 2018.
  3. Web site: 一代播音皇帝殞落 香港電台深切哀悼 鍾偉明(1931 – 2009)辭世. A radio broadcasting king is no more: RTHK mourns the passing of Chung Wai-ming (1931–2009). Radio Television Hong Kong. 19 January 2018. Chinese. 27 November 2009. 當年的颱風消息、對越南船民的呼籲等錄音,港人記憶猶新... (Hongkongers still remember [his] typhoon reports of yesteryear, as well as [his] message for Vietnamese boat people...).
  4. News: 回憶「北漏洞拉」. Remembering "Bat lau dung laai". 19 January 2018. Hong Kong Commercial Daily. 28 November 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208135922/http://www.hkcd.com.hk/content/2009-11/28/content_2437403.htm. 8 December 2015. 中段的越南語由一位當時即將被遣返回越南的南越船民讀出的。 (The Vietnamese in the middle portion was read by a Vietnamese boat person who, at the time, was about to be repatriated to Vietnam).
  5. Web site: 香港故事 (VIII) 2009. Hong Kong Stories (VII) 2009. Radio Television Hong Kong. 19 January 2018. Chinese. 「北漏洞拉」越南語廣播深入民心,更有香港人誤以此為越南招呼語。 ("Bat lau dung laai" Vietnamese broadcasts are well known, and some mistook the phrase as a Vietnamese term of greeting). 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402173600/http://app1.rthk.org.hk/php/tvarchivecatalog/episode.php?progid=606&tvcat=5. dead.
  6. 開放 Issues 37–42 冲天有限公司, 1990 "「危城 I 北漏洞拉」一.作者:張志强在九七前途與越南船民等問題困擾下,受香港前途所影響,聯想香港會否在回歸中國時變成 8 一個越南?到時香港人的努力成果會否被傲底破壞?."
  7. Web site: 越南潮遊──不漏洞拉 (Trendy Vietnam Travels - bat lau dung laai). Red Publishing. 19 January 2018.
  8. News: 【流徙的人】港人花四年尋訪越南難民 書寫百萬人怒海求生故事. [Displaced People] Hongkonger spent four years looking for and interviewing Vietnamese refugees, wrote a tale on a million people's take of survival on the angry seas. 19 January 2018. HK01. 22 July 2017. Chinese.
  9. Web site: bắt đầu từ nay: The Boat People Saga. National Library Board of Singapore. 20 January 2018.