when you are in malaysia, it helps a lot if you know a bit of the language, especially if you drive. most of the direction/road signs and names of places are in malay, and if you do not make the effort to learn some of the basic words, you may end up going in circles.
after years of travelling along malaysian roads, i have picked up malay words like awas (caution), kurangkan laju (reduce speed), had laju (speed limit), utara (north), seletan (south), kecemasan (emergency) and, not forgetting, jalan sehala (one way street).
i always tell my friends who travel in my car to johor bahru that we should not be afraid of getting lost. that is because i can read some of the road signs (in the malay language) and i have travelled quite extensively in johor.
in january this year, i blogged about this sign outside a building along neo tiew crescent. you can see in the photograph (below) that they have re-instated the missing letter.
now, look at the picture of a cinema (pawagam) in johor bahru, what is the letter that has fallen or is falling off? if you know basic malay, you will be able to provide the answer.
7 comments:
Letter is 'U'. New Capitol Cinema - Pawagam Kapitol Baru.
what is bahru in english?
If you can read the chinese characters, you will know the answer.
fr, the correct spelling is baru or baharu. both words mean 'new'. i don't know how come it is johor bahru.
betty, you still need to know basic malay to know the word for 'new'.
icemoon, i am impressed. you seem to know more malay than some senior citizens. you even know that in malay, the adjective comes after the noun.
I learnt that from heritage studies. Tiong (hokkien) Bahru (Melayu) - New Cemetery. Even peranakan words follow the same pattern - tok (hokkien) panjang (Melayu) - long table.
Nasi Padang, Nasi Lemak, etc, we say nasi when we want plain rice. Even KTM - Keretapi Tanah Melayu - Malay Ground Train?!
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