Acronyms and Abbreviations Malaysian Flavour

As other languages in the world, Bahasa Malaysia has added many acronyms and abbreviatons. In order to understand BM better, nowadays it is necessary to know some of them, particularly useful when you read the newspapers.

Examples: A student studies KOMSAS for his BM. BERNAMA reports about an ADUN. I believe even a YB loves ABC and I shall not dwell much on meetings and entities involving only people on top of the food chain such as ASEAN. But, what exactly is the difference between an acronym and abbreviation?

Acronyms are abbreviations of initial letters forming words that can be pronounced. Among the other forms for abbreviations is initialism or alphabetism pronounced as the names of the individual letters.

So, KOMSAS, BERNAMA,ADUN, ASEAN are acronyms whereas BM, YB, ABC are abbreviations. Okay? Below are some common ones in formal settings. Ahem!

note: Acronym = akronim. Abbreviation=singkatan

BM Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Melayulah :)
KH Kemahiran Hidup, Living Skill a school subject
PJ Petaling Jaya or Pendidikan Jasmani, Physical Education
KOMSAS Komponen Sastera, Components of Literature
YB Yang Berhormat, The Honourable usually applied to Ministers
YAB Yang Amat Berhormat, The Most Honourable, e.g. PM
PM Perdana Menteri or Prime Minister
MB Menteri Besar, the equivalent of Chief Minister.
KM Ketua Menteri, Chief Minister
ADUN Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri, State Assemblyman
OCPD Officer-in-Charge Police District
ISA Internal Security Act, Akta Keselamatan Negara
SDN BHD Sendirian Berhad, Private Limited
SRJK Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangasaan, National type primary school
SMJK Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan, National type secondary school
ABC Ais Batu Campur, yummy!
BERNAMA Berita Nasional Malaysia, Malaysia News Agency
PROTON Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional, National Automobile Industry
PETRONAS Petroleum Nasional Berhad
SIRIM Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia, Institut Piawaian dan Penyelidikan Perindustrian Malaysia. Goods bearing this stamp are supposedly of credible quality.
UMNO United Malays National Organisation, Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu. Don't ask me why they prefer an acronym based on the English version.
PAS Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, Islamic Party of Malaysia
BN Barisan Nasional, National Front
BSN Bank Simpanan Nasional, Always long queues in front of its ATM machines...
ASN Amanah Saham Nasional, a lucrative $$ Unit Trust Fund

And here's some informal ones:

ADIL Anwar di Dalam Isteri di Luar, Anwar inside and (his) wife outside
BATA Buy And Throw Away, personally I think this shoe brand is cheap and good though not always pretty...what more can you ask for?
BEER Beginning Enjoy Ending Regret
BMW Brings More Women, Big Money Waste ( Depends on the size of your wallet )
FORD Found on Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily...My friend bought a brand new Ford and she agrees with the second acronym.
MAS Malaysia Airline System...Mana Ada Sistem?
MBA Married But Available, Mentality Below Average
MCA Money Conquers All
MIC Must I Come?
NATO No Action Talk Only
PROTON Possibly the Riskiest Option To drive On Road Nowadays
UMNO yoU Must Not Object

bd bahasa dalam royal language
bh bahasa halus polite language
bk bahasa kasar rude language
bkn berkenaan concerning
bp bahasa percakapan colloquial language
dgn dengan with
dll dan lain-lain etc.
dlm dalam in
dr dari from
drpd daripada than, (made) of
dsb dan sebagainya and so forth
ib istilah ilmu bahasa linguistic term
ie istilah ekonomi economic term
ipt istilah pertanian agricultural term
is istilah sains scientific term
ist istilah am general term
it istilah teknik technical term
kep kependekan short form
ki kiasan simile
kpd kepada to
lw lawan antonym
mis misalnya for example
pd pada with, in, at, to
prb peribabasa proverb
sbg sebagai as
sj sejenis a type of
sl sastera lama classical literature
spt seperti as...as
sr seruan exclamation
utk untuk for
yg yang that, which, who, those

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