This rare compilation comprises three volumes of rhyming quatrains (pantun), a collection of stories and literary miscellany published by Koh & Co., a Singapore press established by Baba Koh Hoon Teck (1878?–1956). Baba Koh also founded the Gunong Sayang Association, a Peranakan arts and cultural organization, in 1910, which is still active today. Dondang sayang is a traditional Malay art practised by several Malay-speaking communities around the Straits of Malacca, including Peranakan communities. Using pantun set to music, two or more singers “converse” in a test of wits and wordplay based on a theme. The collection of stories includes the story of Abu Nawas, a folktale of Persian-Arabic origins that spread to the Malay world between the 13th and 15th centuries and became well-known among the Malay and Peranakan communities in Southeast Asia.
