lokun

• lo-kun
• lo kun
• lo-koon
• lor kun

From Min Nan 老君 (ló-kun), from Malay dukun (“shaman or medicine man”).

• (Singapore, Malaysia) IPA^(key): /ləʊ ˈkʊn/

lokun

1. (Singapore and Malaysia) doctor; physician
   • 1997 September 25, Crowley’s Magus, “Asian racism”, in soc.culture.singapore, Usenet‎:

     Just to further convince Phil McCracken, if we Hokkien speakers are talking about a 100% Chinese man who graduated from the NUS Medicine Faculty, we would refer to him as an "ang mo lor kun" - western doctor, as opposed to "teng lung lor kun" or "sinseh" - Chinese traditional doctor, the acupuncture / herbs type.

   • 1998 May 4, Just Passing By…, “Is it wrong to use the word angmoh?”, in soc.culture.singapore, Usenet‎:

     A Singaporean Chinese, Malay or Indian who is a qualified doctor would be referred to be as an “ang mo lor kun”.

   • 2004, Hean Teik Ong, To Heal the Sick: The Story of Healthcare and Doctors in Penang, 1786 to 2004, page 66:

     “Lo-Koon, Lai Lo!” What patient, however low in spirits, would not cheer up at once, on hearing this jolly greeting with which our old family physician, Dr Alfred McKern, would announce his arrival at the patient’s home.

   • 2005, Ee Heok Kua, An Undefeated Mind, page 122:

     “Lokun lai loh! (Doctors are here)” Chin shouts in the Hokkien dialect to calm the imbroglio and all heads along the corridor turn around immediately.

   • 2006 October 30, kaupehkaubu, “Malaysia A Police State? Is Mahathir Serious?”, in Sangkancil, Usenet‎:

     What they say about the doctors, generalist and the specialist: […] The specialist(aka tua lokun) knows more and more about less and less until eventually he knows everything about nothing.

   • 2008, Terry Tan, Stir-fried and Not Shaken, page 30:

     Where this woman learned her herbal skills from, I never knew. Probably some village witch doctor or dukun. It is probably the reason why lor kun means ‘doctor’ in Hokkien, its derivation most telling.

   • 2012 October 31, Chang Mei Bin, “The Testimony of the Late Dr Richard Teo, the Singaporean Millionaire Plastic Surgeon”, in SacredHeart1984, Usenet‎:

     Anything more than SGD$30, they would complain: “Wah, this lo kun (doctor) jing qwee (very expensive)!”

   • 2015, Gwee Li Sui, Singathology: 50 New Works by Celebrated Singaporean Writers:

     The lo-kun stared steadily at the computer screen, his finger still, uncertain what to do, unable to understand if some tragic meaning lay behind that long coughing fit.

Used primarily in casual conversation or informal writing and not in more formal written works and discourse.