Bagai kera kena belacan.
“Like a monkey that has touched shrimp paste.”
Restless and fidgety, unable to sit still, often out of guilt or discomfort.
— Traditional Malaysia Wisdom, Malaysia
Source: Traditional Malaysia proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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Bend the bamboo while it is still a shoot.
Discipline and shape children while they are young, before habits set.
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Like the bamboo clump and the riverbank.
A relationship of mutual support where each side protects and depends on the other.
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Where there is sugar, there are ants.
People flock to wherever there is wealth, benefit, or opportunity.
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What seems impossible becomes easy through practice.
Constant practice overcomes even the greatest difficulty.
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Water, however much it is chopped, will never be severed.
Blood ties and family bonds cannot truly be broken by quarrels.
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Like the flesh and the fingernail.
Two people, often family, who are inseparably close.
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