Table of Lessons (for PC)   |   HOME PAGE
A basic course in the Malaysian and Indonesian languages in 64 lessons  ©pgoh
This version is to be used on a desktop. Smartphone users go here.

  Lesson 63 Compliments and criticisms  


In the course of our daily conversations we are bound to hear compliments as well as criticisms about other people (well, that is the way of the world). Or you yourself might feel the urge to praise or criticise someone. Here then are examples of common appreciations and criticisms. First the appreciations:
Click to listen  

A second reading (by Muhammad Nor Ismat, a native speaker)
1. Orang itu baik hati.
2. Penghulu kampung itu ramah orangnya.
3. Dia disukai* gurunya kerana dia rajin.
4. Majikannya tahu bahawa dia boleh dipercayai.
5. Orang kaya itu suka menolong orang yang miskin.
6. Semua orang menghormatinya kerana dia seorang yang jujur. 		1. That man has a good heart (is good-natured).
2. That village headman is a friendly person.
3. He is liked by his teacher because he works hard.
4. His employer knows that he can be trusted.
5. That rich man likes to help poor people.
6. Everyone respects him because he is an honest person.
*this word is pronounced as: di-su-ka-ee

MORE COMPLIMENTS:
When you wish to congratulate someone for an achievement you can either say Saya ucapkan tahniah atas kejayaan anda (I congratulate you on your success) or if that is too long for you just say Syabas! (Well done!). The word is pronounced "sha-bas".
Other commendable qualities are:
ikhlas = sincere
murah hati = generous (murah as you have learnt in Lesson 33 means "cheap")
rendah hati = humble (rendah means "low" - see Lesson 47)
sabar or sabar hati = patient but berhati-hati means "careful" or "be careful!"
There are two other words for careful: cermat and teliti
(datang) tepat = (to be) punctual
setia = loyal
riang = cheerful
berbudi bahasa = polite
Another word for polite is sopan
You will notice that a number of these qualities contain the word hati which means heart. Other common expressions with the word hati are: panas hati meaning angry, puas hati meaning satisfied and sakit hati meaning annoyed or hurt (eg. by someone's remarks).
Leaving people aside, when you want to say that a performance or a film is really superb you can say Bagus sekali or Hebat sekali (pronounce the first syllable as "hay", not "her").

CRITICISMS:
Now we come to the criticisms. About the worst criticism one can make of a Malaysian is that of being kurang ajar. The person to whom this remark is intended would be covered with shame as it means that he has not been properly brought up (is ill-bred or uncouth). Courtesy plays a very important part in the Malay culture. Thus it would be rude (biadab) to hand over something to a Malay with your left hand or to tap someone on the head or for a son to argue loudly with his parents (though modern-day parents might be more open and allow their children more leeway).
Incidentally I think that the Malay culture has much to offer the rest of the world in terms of respect and good behaviour. This is because to the Malays tingkah laku (behaviour) is very important. There are numerous other words which denote good behaviour, civility and politeness in the Malay language, such as sopan santun, hormat, beradab, lemah lembut, baik budi. In fact there is a popular Malay pantun containing these 2 lines which encapsule very well the very nature of Malay thinking: Hutang emas dapat dibayar, hutang budi dibawa mati which I paraphrase as "Borrowed gold can be returned and done with but kindness received accompanies one to the grave."
By the way the word kurang by itself means "less". Thus if you are asking the shopkeeper to reduce the price you might say Boleh kurang sedikit? (Can you lessen a bit?)
To turn words of compliment into words of criticism you only have to add tidak before the adjectives.
Thus Dia boleh dipercayai means "He can be trusted" whereas Dia tidak boleh dipercayai means "He cannot be trusted".
If you had learnt the first part of this lesson well you should now know the meanings of the following: tidak ikhlas, tidak ramah, tidak murah hati and tidak sabar.
It's time for me to bring up the word setuju which means to agree. Thus "I agree with you" would be Saya setuju dengan anda or Saya setuju dengan apa yang anda kata itu. (I agree with what you said.)
If you would like to use the verb with the prefix you would say Saya bersetuju dengan anda or Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat anda (I agree with your opinion.)
Incidentally a useful opening for a sentence is Pada pendapat saya... as it means "In my opinion...".
If you don't agree with what is being said you only have to put tidak, the word of negation, before setuju . Thus Saya tidak setuju dengan anda. means "I don't agree with you".
You can temper your disagreement by preceding it with Maafkan saya. Thus to politely object to what someone said you could say Maafkan saya, tetapi saya tidak setuju dengan anda (Excuse me, but I don't agree with you) or if you prefer, Maafkan saya, tetapi saya tidak setuju dengan pendapat anda. (Excuse me, but I don't agree with your point of view.)
If you are now at a stage where you can engage in a simple conversation in Malay you should learn this question and use it at the first opportunity: Adakah anda setuju dengan saya atau tidak? (Do you agree with me or not?)

The sentences in the table below give examples of criticisms that you might hear:
1. Orang itu jahat.
2. Dia bodoh betul.
3. Orang itu berbau.
4. Dia ditangkap polis kerana menipu kedai itu dengan menggunakan kad kredit yang palsu.
5. Dia sangat kedekut.
6. Dia selalu bergaduh dengan jiran-jirannya.
7. Saya tidak percaya apa yang dia katakan kerana saya tahu dia suka cakap besar.
8. Pelajar itu gagal dalam peperiksaannya kerana malas.
9. Saya tidak hairan dia belum sampai lagi kerana dia selalu lewat.
10. Orang tidak suka dia kerana dia suka bersungut. 		1. He is a bad person.
2. He is really stupid.
3. He is smelly.
4. He was caught by the police because he cheated the shop by using a false credit card.
5. He is very stingy.
6. He always quarrels with his neighbours.
7. I don't believe what he said because I know he likes to boast ("cakap besar" translated literally: "talk big").
8. The student failed in his/her exam because he/she was lazy.
9. I am not surprised he is not here yet because he is always late.
10. People don't like him because he likes to grumble.

Note the particular use of betul in the second sentence above. The word betul, as you have learnt in Lesson 48, normally means true or correct. Okay, if it helps you to remember, translate the sentence as "He is stupid, truly".
In the third sentence bau (pronounced as two syllables ba-oo) by itself means "smell"
If you wish to leave no doubt that the person smells terrible you could say:
Orang itu berbau busuk since busuk by itself means bad-smelling.
A person who has a bad or wicked heart is referred to as busuk hati.
If you wish to refer to something that smells good you can say berbau harum or berbau wangi.
From this it is easy to remember the Malay word for "perfume".  It is air wangi (fragrant water) or minyak wangi (fragrant oil).
By the way the word minyak alone can mean either cooking oil or car petrol depending on the context. Engine oil, since it is black in colour, is called minyak hitam.
A second meaning of busuk is "rotten" or "decayed". Thus when you say Buah itu sudah busuk you are referring to a fruit that has become rotten or decayed. Incidentally the word to use for an object that has become damaged is rosak eg. Kereta saya sudah rosak. (My car is out of order).

MORE CRITICISMS:
cuai or tidak berhati-hati = careless
Note: cuai is pronounced choo-ai (and in one breath if you can).
cemburu or iri hati = jealous
Dia selalu cemburu kerana teman lelakinya suka bergurau dengan gadis-gadis di pejabat. (She is always jealous because her boyfriend likes to joke with the girls in the office.)
sombong = proud



Table of Lessons (for PC)   |   HOME PAGE