Every language in the world has its formal version — used in official documents, correspondence and newspapers — and its informal daily version — slang, bahasa pasar (literally: ‘market language’), streetwise lingo.
Here are 10 Malay terms that fall in the latter category:-
1. “On The Way”
I dare say that this phrase — ironically, in English — has got to be the most abused in the Malay language. Often shortened to ‘OTW’ in SMS (text messages), the Malaysian meaning of this phrase can cover anywhere between ‘getting ready to leave’, ‘halfway to the destination’, and ‘a second away from the destination’.
Usage:
a. You have an appointment with someone at 10 am. You dash out of the office at 9.40 a.m., knowing that your appointment is only 15 minutes away given normal traffic conditions. As Murphy’s Law would have it, you find yourself stuck in an unexpected traffic jam due to an overturned lorry at an intersection. By 10.10 a.m., your car has barely moved 3 metres, when your phone suddenly rings. It’s your 10 a.m. appointment! You calmly pick up the call and say “I’m on the way.”
b. Your travel agent has agreed to send your plane ticket (still required by certain airlines) at KL Sentral station, where you plan to board the KLIA Ekspres train, which should take you to KLIA in 27 minutes. Your travel agent has promised to have the despatch boy send it over by 12 noon. By 12.15 p.m., you start to panic when there’s still no sign of him. You call your travel agent and they assure you that he’s “on the way”. Acid production in your stomach cranks into overdrive as you start to wonder: by “on the way”, did they mean the despatch boy is putting on his jacket and helmet at the office, or he just stepped out of the office, or he is just 5 minutes away from KL Sentral?
2. Dalam Proses
This phrase literally means “in the process” and is used for describing business processes or government dealings. Just like “on the way”, only God knows exactly at what stage the processing is whenever you are told that something is dalam proses.
Usage:
a. Permohonan puan masih dalam proses. (Madame, your application is still being processed.)
b. Staff 1: Budget dah approve ke? Staff 2: Entah. Accounts kata dalam proses. (Staff 1: Has the budget been approved? Staff 2: I dunno. Accounts Department said it’s still being processed.)
3. Boring
This word is mostly used to mean ‘bored’, but can also mean ‘fed up’ or to describe someone or something not worth your time.
Usage:
a. ‘I boring lah.‘ (What he/she actually means is that he/she is feeling bored, not that he/she is a boring person.)
b. I dah boring dah dengan dia ni. (I’m fed up with him already)
c. Tempat tu boring lah. (That place is a complete waste of time.)
4. Action
This word is used to mean ’show-off’ or ’snobbish’.
Usage:
a. Dia tu action sangat semenjak balik dari US. Dah tak cakap Bahasa Melayu lagi dah! Asyik cakap orang putih je. (He has become quite a snob ever since he got back from the US. He doesn’t speak in Malay language anymore! He just speaks in English all the time.)
b. Alaa…jangan lah action sangat. Kitorang tau you baru dapat kereta baru. (Don’t be such a show-off. We all know you just got yourself a new car.)
5. Terror
In the Philippines, when a professor is known as a ‘terror’, it means that students are terrified of him. But in Malaysia, the word ‘terror’ is used to refer to someone who is exceptionally good at something.
Usage:
a. Wahh! Dua-belas A? Terror! (Wow! Twelve A’s? You’re awesome!)
b. Abang lukis ni sendiri ke? Terror-nya! (You drew this all by yourself? You’re good!)
6. Pergi Minum
This phrase means exactly as its literal translation, i.e. to go for a drink. One thing to note is that ‘drink’ here does not mean alcohol, as I’ve explained in a previous post.
This is actually one of the eccentricities of Malaysia: you drop by a customer’s office at 10 a.m. without an appointment and you’re told that the person you wanted to see has stepped out for a while — “Dia pergi minum“. This applies to smaller local companies… and sad to say, in some government offices.
Usage:
Jom! Kita pergi minum sekejap. Ada orang nak belanja. (Come, let’s go have a drink for a while. Someone’s footing the bill.)
7. Jam
Unless the ‘word’ jam is used in the context of breakfast or bread, when Malaysians say ‘jam’, they almost always refer to traffic jam. While Filipinos say matrapik and Indonesians say macet, Malaysians simply say jam.
By the way, the pronunciation is very crucial here. If you say ‘jem’, it means traffic jam; if you say ‘jam’, it refers to time or a watch, e.g. jam tangan (wrist watch).
Usage:
a. Boss, saya masuk lambat sikit nie. Jam teruk lah. (Boss, I’ll be a bit late. I’m stuck in a massive traffic jam.)
b. Fuh! Punyelah jam malam tadi! Ada aksiden kat NKVE. (What a traffic jam last night! There was an accident at NKVE.)
8. Best!
This superlative is used as an adjective to describe anything and everything that’s good, delicious or interesting.
Usage:
a. You: How was the movie? Your Friend: Best! Tapi cinema tu tak best sebab aircond sejuk sangat. (Great! But the cinema wasn’t that good because the airconditioning was too cold.)
b. Eh-eh! Diorang nak gi London lah Raya nie. Best-nyer! Bilalah I dapat ikut? (They’re going to London this Eid. How nice! I wonder when I’d get to tag along?)
9. Member
When the word ‘member’ is used in a Malay sentence, it does not necessarily refer to a person who belongs to an organisation or club. Instead, the word member in the Malay context means ‘friend’.
Usage:
Dia tu member aku. (He’s a good friend of mine.)
10. Ada Hal
This phrase is a catch-all term to mean ‘to have some business to attend to’. Surprisingly, it’s perfectly acceptable for employees to write this as reason for applying for annual leave in their leave forms.
Usage:
Saya tak boleh datang esok lah. Ada hal sikit… (I can’t be there tomorrow. I have some business to attend to.)
These are just the tip of the iceberg; there are many more Malaysian words that will never make it to any Malay-English dictionary. Check out Wikipedia for a list of more Malaysianisms.
Tags: Languages
This may look like Arabic to you, but it’s not.
This is Jawi, previously the standard script for writing the Malay language. Adapted from the Arabic language, it uses all of the original 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet. In addition, Jawi has six unique supplementary letters: va (same as wa but with a single dot on top), cha (same as jim but with 3 dots), pa (same as fa but with 3 dots), ga (same as ka but with one dot), nga (same as ghain but with 3 dots), nya (same as ya but with 3 dots). Those 3 dots are a direct giveaway that the text is in Jawi instead of Arabic.
And just like Arabic, Jawi is written and read from right to left.
But while Arabic relies on symbols to indicate the vowel to be used with each letter (e.g. symbol on top is for ‘a’, at the bottom for ‘i’, a fat comma-like symbol to indicate ‘u’, known as fatha, kasra, and dhamma, respectively), with Jawi, there are no such symbols. Just take a look at the introduction of RoundBoy’s Jawi textbook:-
In contrast, take a look at this book with Arabic letters duly marked with fatha, kasra, and dhamma to guide students who are new to Arabic.
Although, I must clarify, more advanced Arabic readers can do without those symbols, simply relying on one’s knowledge of Arabic vocabulary to decipher the right word.
With Jawi, words with ‘i’ sound are normally spelled with a letter ‘ya’ after it, words with ‘u’ sound are written with a ‘wau’ after it, words with ‘a’ are written with ‘alif’ after it. The tricky part is, some words don’t use any of those letters. I’m very new to Jawi myself and don’t understand all the rules. So you can just imagine my predicament whenever I try to help my children with their homework.
Take the case of the word ‘ibu’, which is Malay for ‘mother’. It’s spelled as:
alif + ya = ‘i’
ba + wau = ‘bu’
But if you don’t know head or tail about Jawi, you could very well end up reading that word as ‘ay-bu’.
So now you have an idea of how much of a struggle it has been for me to assist my children with their Jawi homework, considering how terrible their Malay is compared to their Filipina mother. Because Jawi requires knowledge of the actual script, as well as adequate Malay vocabulary in order to figure out the correct word. Otherwise, you just might end up reading a word as kelapa (coconut) when it actually spells kepala (head)!
Jawi is still used in road signs in many places in Malaysia (which created quite a controversy here, but which I shall not delve into) and is still in day-to-day usage in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. Muslim marriage certificates in Kelantan, for instance, are wholly written in Jawi.
Sadly, it seems the usage of Jawi has been tapering in the recent years. Many Malays often get duped into thinking that an Indian restaurant is a kedai mamak (Indian Muslim) simply because the said restaurant’s signboard has Arabic-looking text on it, when actually it’s just something else in Jawi.
Despite all the controversies that swirl around Jawi, it would definitely be a shame if this essential piece of Malay culture dies away.
Tags: Languages
The last time I visited the Science Centre Singapore (SCS) was in the early 1990s, way back when I was still single and was in Singapore with my girlfriends to watch ‘The Phantom of The Opera’. The SCS made quite an impact on me at the time that I made a note to myself to take my children there one day. That opportunity finally came some three weeks ago, when our family went to Singapore to join K and family, who were in Southeast Asia for their summer holidays. (I know, I know. I’ve been delinquent and haven’t been blogging in a more timely manner. Sorry!)
The SCS is conveniently located in Jurong East, easily accessible from Malaysia via the less-congested Second Link. [NB: The main bridge that connects Singapore and Malaysia is called 'Causeway' and is almost always congested.]
Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks SCS is a cool place to visit; SCS’ website says that it is the 3rd most visited attraction in Singapore. (The Singapore Zoological Gardens hogs the top spot, followed closely by Night Safari.)
As soon as we arrived, the children immediately got all psyched up. Who wouldn’t? What with this huge moving dinosaur model welcoming visitors at the entrance!
Photo from http://couchpootato.blogspot.com/
Most of the displays are interactive and we wasted no time to trying everything that could be poked, prodded, peeked into, spun, opened, and fiddled with.
Unfortunately, there were three busloads of schoolchildren that day. One huge group of those children swarmed into the Sounds section and in the ensuing confusion, Twin2 went missing. Trying to keep calm, I looked around the Sounds exhibition hall, looking into the Recording Studio, the ‘barbershop’, the Echo Tube. Nada. Exasperated, I walked into the SCS’s office, right next to the entrance. I stepped into the office just as they were announcing a ‘lost boy in a yellow shirt’ — Twin2! He jumped into my arms and bawled. He was still crying his heart out when we rejoined his father and his siblings. Fortunately, the electricity demonstration was just starting and the loud zap of electricity within the enclosed area made him forget his troubles.
Speaking of the Echo Tube, that’s just got to be my favourite interactive display at SCS. It’s, as the name suggests, a long tube where you can talk, sing or yodel anything and hear it echo. I had a blast channeling my inner Little Mermaid and singing the song that Ariel sang just before the evil Sea Witch took her voice away. I also creeped the twins out by making scary ghost sounds into the Echo Tube. I can be such a kid sometimes!
The Robotics section was small but it had a robotic arm on display that looked so lifelike…and moved. (I have a video of it somewhere. Once I find it, I’ll upload it here.) Naturally, the twins just had to have their photo taken with a small model of Wall-E…
When us, adults, we started to feel tired, we took a break in the Science Centre’s library, located on the first floor. There was a small section for small children, complete with rubber mat, age-appropriate books, and some puzzles. The bigger children made a beeline for the computers that announced ‘Free Internet’. At a corner, I saw a console for signing up for free WiFi, which had a four-hour limit within the Science Centre’s grounds, a very pleasant bonus indeed.
Finally, we made our way to Nanotechnology, wandered around the exhibits until we found the lift to the highlight of the Science Centre — a hall where the floor lights up with every step you make. It was pure, unadulterated awesomeness to the max!
SCS is an exciting, educational yet inexpensive way to spend one whole day — or at the very least, half a day — in Singapore with your children. Or to indulge the inquisitive child in you. I’d pick SCS over Night Safari any day because you end up spending more time at the queues rather than the shows at Night Safari.
A McDonald’s outlet is located near at the entrance of SCS, right behind the dinosaur model that I mentioned earlier. There’s also a cafeteria within SCS’ premises.
Admission fees cost S$9 for adults and S$5.00 for children between 3 and 16 years old. IMAX movies are charged separately. A package ticket is available for entry to both the SCS, the adjoining Snow City, and IMAX. Click here for more information on admission charges and here to see SCS’s opening hours and location map.
Given the dim lighting condition of most of the SCS, for DSLR camera owners, I suggest bringing along a fast lens like the inexpensive Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D prime lens for flash-free pics.
…………………………………………..
Science Centre Singapore
15 Science Centre Road
Singapore 609081
Tel: (65) 6425-2500
Fax: (65) 6565-9533
Tags: Singapore
Pre-departure lounge in a small airport in the southern part of the Philippines
The problem with us, humans, is that we tend to think that those things we see on movies or read about in the newspapers will never happen to us. But they do. Oh yes, they do. Just like getting bumped off a flight when it’s overbooked (quite common in the United States, if I’m to believe everything that I read). Or find your flight delayed by half a day or a whole day…or worse, canceled altogether.
Should you find yourself in this situation, please try to keep calm. There’s no point in hyperventilating at this point. Because your airline is legally obliged to remedy your situation in some form. And you will need all your wits together to make the most of this situation. I’ve had my share of these horror stories and can share with you what I’ve learned from my experiences.
Are you ready? Well then…let’s begin.
Step 1: Do You Really Need To Fly? As In, Now?
Ask yourself if you really, really, really need to reach your intended destination according to the original schedule. Be very honest with yourself here. Is there a wedding? A funeral? A meeting so important that’s totally impossible to re-schedule?
If your answer is no, then by all means, please take the airlines’ offer of free change of flight and/or free hotel stay, free meals, and, sometimes, free vouchers for meals and/or in-flight duty-free items. Because they’re obliged to do so. Unless they’ve got themselves covered in the fine print of your paper ticket or e-ticket. End of story.
My Story: I was checking in early for my Emirates flight from Dubai to KL. The guy in the counter told me with a straight face that the flight’s overbooked, I can’t possibly board that flight, and that they’re giving me a free hotel stay, with free food, and free transport to and from the aiport. And to top it all off, they even offered me a free return air ticket anywhere within the region. Did I grab that offer? No. Because I wanted to go home. So I waited in the airport for what seemed like eternity, boarded the flight at the eleventh hour…and regretted my decision all throughout the six-hour flight after sitting sandwiched between two stinky men, one of whom snored at a volume that rivaled the engines’ drone. I still regret not taking that free return air ticket to this day. Moral of the story: if you don’t need to go, don’t go. Take the free ticket/hotel/vouchers, for heaven’s sake!
If your answer is still a resounding YES, please proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Be Firm But Polite.
Go to the check-in counter of your airline, ask to see who’s in charge, then tell him/her firmly but politely that you need to be on that flight by hook or by crook. Be prepared to hear stories about how impossible it would be because the only other flight is full, there are no other flights, there’s not enough time to catch the other flight, and etcetera and etcetera and etcetera. Nod your head, tell them you understand, but you need to fly. As in NOW. Then give them your name, booking reference number and mobile phone number. And may I remind you again to be firm but polite?
My Story: I was with 3 others, checking in for our KLM flight from KL to Jakarta. We were told that the plane from Amsterdam had technical problems and would only be arriving the next day. They offered us the free hotel/food/transport shebang, as expected. They even threw in a free IDD call for 3 minutes to anywhere in the world. But we had to go to Jakarta because we had an important meeting to attend which could not be postponed at all. My companions panicked; I didn’t, thanks to my Emirates experience. So I calmly listed our names among the standby passengers and told them to relax and wait. We got on the next MH (Malaysia Airlines) flight to Jakarta while a group of impatient fellow passengers blew an obscene amount of money to buy last-minute tickets for an AirAsia flight all by themselves.
Step 3: The Waiting Game.
Your airline actually has the prerogative of putting you on the next available flight (of the same airline) or putting you on a flight of another carrier. The first scenario, i.e. same airline, is ideal because it will involve the least amount of hassle. However, this is very much dependent on your airlines’ frequency of flights to your intended destination. The second scenario, i.e. different airline, is a little bit more complicated and is a very costly alternative for your airline. Therefore, your airline will almost always offer you a different flight even if it’s the following day in order to cut down on their cost. If you are really, really, really in a hurry to get to your intended destination, and you know that there is a (different airline’s) flight in two hours’ time, be prepared to be told, “We’ll try to put you on the next XYZ flight but the system shows that it’s fully booked, so I suggest that you take the free hotel stay and take our flight tomorrow.”
At this point, you’ll have to go backtrack a bit and ask yourself again, “Do I really, really, really need to get on that flight?”. If your answer is still yes, then be persistent and firm with the your airline but remain polite. As the cliché goes, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
My story: I was with my assistant, checking in for a KLM flight from Jakarta to KL. Again, there was a technical problem that prevented the plane from Amsterdam to fly into Jakarta that day, so we were offered a free overnight stay at a 5-star hotel in downtown Jakarta. Again, I insisted on going back because we had several important meetings lined up for the next day. Initially, they told us that the MH flight to KL was full and so was the AirAsia flight. But we persisted. Key words: Firm. But. Polite. And we got into the MH flight back to KL that night.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must aware of the procedure: your airline will only be able to put you on XYZ flight if there are empty seats or no-shows, i.e. people who bought tickets but didn’t show up at the last minute. And your airline will only find out the number of empty seats — if there are any — AFTER all passengers of XYZ flight have checked in and the counter is closed. This would normally be around 60 minutes before the flight. At this point, all that you can do is wait and pray. Just before the magic hour strikes, make your way to your airline counter once again and inquire nicely (I can’t stress this enough!) about the status of your standby request. Standby passengers will be entertained on a first-come, first-served basis; this is when it pays to check in early for your flight. Because if you check in early, you’ll find out early about the flight being overbooked/canceled/delayed and have your name up there in the list of standby passengers.
If Lady Luck smiles upon you, you’ll find yourself among the lucky few with a boarding pass for flight XYZ, your luggage tagged and checked-in at the very last minute (thereby increasing the possibility of losing your luggage), and running through the airport to get past X-ray machines, Immigration, another x-ray machine, in order to get to the boarding gate before it closes.
If you don’t get a seat on flight XYZ, you’ll still end up in the hotel offered to you in the first place. Or perhaps you ditch the offer and go home instead (if you’re in your home country) and sleep in your own bed and check in for your flight the following day.
Disclaimer: Airline policies may vary — especially for low-cost airlines! — so read the fine print in the Terms & Conditions of your ticket. But even AirAsia offered its customers some vouchers redeemable against the next ticket purchase for delays more than 4 hours. I’m not sure if this policy is still in place as of this writing but my husband had these vouchers sent to him by email in two separate occasions.
I was attending a seminar at JW Marriott last week. The first session was a bit slow and before I realised it, my mind started wandering and my pencil started sketching. (It’s an unconscious habit I have — doodling or sketching whenever my mind starts to wander.)
I was quite pleased with the outcome of this sketch that I just have to share it with you all. I have actually uploaded this pic to my FaceBook (FB) account last week. But then I realised that my FB accounts are limited to people whom I actually know in real life. Hence, my decision to post this here so that I can share it with everyone else.
Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend!
Photo taken with HTC Desire, edited to adjust levels, contrast, and colour correction.
Tags: about me
