etymology of hom-pim-pah

[David Mead]

In the Indonesian context children determine who goes first in a game 
by playing a type of 'odd man out'. On signal they throw their right 
hand into the middle of the circle palm up or palm down.

Below are some regional variants of the little ditty that children 
chant when playing odd man out. I'm wondering whether anyone knows 
the etymology. If I had to guess, the first three syllables look to 
be of Chinese origin, but the rest looks Arabic (??).

ho pim pang wa alai gamle

hom pim pah alai hu jambreng

hom-pim-pa alaiyum gambreng

hongpimpa alaium gambreng

hompimpah alaihom gambreng

The explanation which is now widely found on the internet is that it 
means "From God return to God, let's play" (Dari Tuhan kembali ke 
Tuhan, mari kita bermain) but all the sources apparently trace back 
to the opinion of one person, Zaini Alif (see here 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfDf8VrRoJw and here 
http://www.presentasi.net/presentasi-zaini-alif-komunitas-hong-hompimpa/ 
if you know Indonesian / Malay). Does anyone have a different 
explanation or opinion?

David Mead




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