Lesson 59  Pekerjaan (Occupations)  

Situations

Closely linked to occupations are what might be called situations, that is where one does not have an occupation for one reason or another. Such is the case of housewives, pensioners, students or the unemployed. Here are the relevant words and sentences to help you learn how to use them:
Saya suri rumah tangga. (I am a housewife.)
Saya tidak bekerja lagi. Saya pesara. (I'm not working anymore. I'm a pensioner.)
Saya pelajar di Universiti Sains. (I'm a student at Science University.)
Saya tidak ada pekerjaan. Saya menganggur. (I don't have a job. I'm unemployed.)
In case you are a temporary worker you could say: Saya tidak mempunyai pekerjaan tetap, saya pekerja sementara di Metrojaya. = I don't have a permanent job, I'm a temporary worker at Metrojaya (or whatever).
But if you are a part-time worker then you have to say: Saya pekerja sambilan di Plaza Merdeka. = I am a part-time worker at Plaza Merdeka (or whatever).

Don't be discouraged!

Language purists, please skip reading what follows. It is not for you! Sorry.

I don't remember if I have said this earlier. Never, never be afraid to campur (mix) English words with Malay if you don't know how to say them in Bahasa Malaysia. All Malaysians do that so as a foreigner learning Malay you also have a right to it! Even the well-educated Malays do that (in this case it's not because they don't know how to say the whole thing in Malay). Somehow a sprinkling of English with Malay in a conversation makes the setting more easy-going or relaxed and less formal. A good example is in using the English word "you" among friends in the place of anda, kamu or awak as in:
Bila you nak pergi? (When are you going?). Or the boss could tell his secretary "Make sure saya tak ada appointment untuk esok ya?" (Do I need to translate this into English?)
Even the people at the very top do campur their Malay with English (or the other way round if you prefer, producing what is called "manglish" or Malaysian English). This, for example, is part of a verbatim report of what the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said when talking to reporters: "You tak boleh publish ini semua in the newspapers. It's all censored." (From a Sun2Surf report dated April 13, 2006).
So when your Malay vocabulary falls short and you have to bring in an English word or phrase, just do it and remember that you are in good company!
In fact this sprinkling of English words with Malay is so prevalent that the Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim was reported to have told The Star newspaper on April 18, 2004: "And most glaring is how language is being spoken in the country. That can also be a question for (the) Education (Ministry) but in the heritage department, we would like to say: Do not make the language so rojak so as to make it unintelligible in the future. The French don't mix their language with other words. But in Malaysia, half our sentences is in English while the other half is in Malay. In the end, we don't pick up the good parts in either language."
But then even Members of Parliament do this (mixing English and Malay in their speeches in the Malaysian Parliament) so much so that the Speaker had to bring this matter up as in the following report (though knowing the state of things in Malaysia I doubt this will have much effect):

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18, 2006 (Bernama) - Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib Tuesday ticked off some members of the Dewan Rakyat who mixed up Malay and English when addressing the House, describing their act as polluting the Malay language. He said the reminder was made after it was found that, on several occasions, Members of Parliament (MPs) did not use the Malay language in full but alternated by speaking in English in the Dewan Rakyat.