Malaysia Airlines

Before the blessed inception of Air Asia, I used to grumble at Malaysia Airlines' exorbitant fare to fly across the South China Sea.

When I decided to vacation in Holland, my ticketing agent surprised me by comparing the available flights from a few airlines, out of which Malaysia Airlines' offer is the best. What else can a budget traveller like Wan do? Resign to fate and hand out my hard earned cash to MAS...again.

That was the first international flight for Wan, the country cousin from Malaysia.

First Persons and Passive Voice

Did I say: " I pay Malaysia Airlines?". Ya, saya membayar MAS. I prefer to highlight the importance of Malaysia Airlines since it is the subject of discussion here. The solution is to rewrite this sentence into the passive voice of Bahasa Malaysia, ayat pasif. Let's look at the basic structure:

Saya membayar MAS. ( Personal Pronoun + active verb + object )

If you want to say Malaysia Airlinesis paid by me, the ayat pasif is:

MAS saya bayar. ( Object + personal pronoun + passive verb )

When you substitute "saya" with any other first persons the same rule above applies. I don't really like the idea of me paying MAS ( chuckle ), I want to get this paying business over as soon as possible. So let's move on to the second persons.

Second Persons and Passive Voice

This time, your turn to pay MAS- anda membayar MAS. To change into ayat pasif, just apply the rule above: MAS anda bayar. ( Object + personal pronoun + passive verb )

Simple...isn't it? You have paid for the ticket to accompany me to Holland. You and I need to look for a third person in the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam.

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Simple rule 1: First and second persons ALWAYS precede passive verb in ayat pasif.

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Boarding

Wan the country cousin is astounded at the sight of the largest commercial airliner in service, the Boeing 747-400. I thought there are only double deckers for buses, now I am entering a " double decker aeroplane"- a gigantic flying machine with 384 passenger seats.

I glanced at the pilot - shorter than the stewardesses marching behind him. Huh, this petite pilot is going to fly me non-stop 13 hours 40 minutes high above the clouds...?

Third persons and Passive Voice

The pilot is our man since he amuses me a lot. In Bahasa Malaysia, juruterbang memandu kapal terbang means the pilot flies the plane. The ayat pasif is:

Kapal terbang dipandu oleh juruterbang. ( The plane is flown by the pilot )

Note the structure of ayat pasif for third person : Imbuhan di + passive verb + preposition oleh

Let me substitute juruterbang with the singular third person, "dia" and compare:

Dia memandu kapal terbang. - ayat aktif

Kapal terbang dipandu olehnya*. -ayat pasif

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Simple rule 2: With third person as a subject, use imbuhan di + passive verb + preposition oleh.

Simple rule 3 : *Be careful to change "dia" to "-nya".

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I have covered the basics of ayat pasif with you. You are ready to fly with me to the next level...zoom!

Airborne

You must allow me some time to overcome a surge of culture shock as I begin to realise that I am surrounded by Dutch people in a Malaysia Airlines' aircraft!

Later, I learn this flight I have chosen is under an arrangement called code sharing. That means both Malaysia Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines marketed the same flight, even though the flight is operated by MAS.

I scolded myself quietly for being impulsive in my decision. The Dutch people seem nice. They don't raise their voices when they speak. They are civilised and well-mannered. Somehow, too much light coloured-hair, green eyes and the peculiar way they say "G" through their noses overwhelmed me. Aduhai! I make a big mistake by not preparing myself mentally.

At least I can warn you of a common error in ayat pasif...

Stick to the Rule

Kita mesti mematuhi peraturan, we must stick to the rule. Try to recall the simple rule for the first and second persons and tell me what is wrong with this ayat pasif:

Peraturan kita mesti patuhi.

The rule says that first and second persons always precede the passive verb, not other words such as..."mesti". So I need to shuffle it.

Peraturan mesti kita patuhi. ( Correct!)

Especially the safety rules must be observed, ya peraturan keselamatan mesti kita patuhi, to ensure a safe journey. Everyone unbuckles their seat belts only after the cabin crew indicate it is safe to do so. Get ready to indulge in Malaysia Airlines' world class service.

Sophisticated

Really, there has never been anything spectacular flying with MAS domestic routes except for the price. So please don't laugh at Wan for not knowing that Malaysia Airlines is among the best arlines in the world.

A small monitor screen attached behind the passenger seat in fornt of me came alive. By pressing a remote control, I can select from among 200 music CDs and 40 movies On-Demand. Most of the time I follow avidly the report on the plane's progress towards Amsterdam. ( I rarely watch TV even on land ).

All the haram (1) drinks back home flow generously onboard. Being a katak di bawah tempurung(2) of Malaysian sky all my life, I just cannot bring myself to sip even a little Campari but I believe any kaki botol (3) will agree this service alone is worth every ringgit and cent. Maybe you can drink on my behalf:

Kamu dapat menikmati (4) aperitif Campari.

I think the I have given you good incentive to work out the ayat pasif, is this your answer...?

Aperitif Campari dapat kamu nikmati.

What if the sentence becomes a bit sophisticated?:

Kamu dapat menikmati aperitif Campari buatan Itali semasa mengikuti penerbangan MAS.

Just stick to the rule: sort out your object - aperitif Campari buatan Itali, personal pronoun-kamu and passive verb- nikmati and you get:

Aperitif Campari buatan Itali dapat kamu nikmati semasa mengikuti penerbangan MAS.

Great drinks, food, entertainment, good Dutch company and naturally...lots of sleep zZZZ.

Reminder

The small pilot lands all of us comfortably in Schipol. A Dutch lady who sits beside me reminds me of the cold weather. I take out my jacket and disembark unworried onto alien ground, rest assured the wau bulan (5) will bring me home a month later :

Penerbangan Malaysia akan membawa Wan pulang selepas sebulan.

Before you leave, may I remind you again the simple rule (2)of ayat pasif? Is your answer the same as mine?

Wan akan dibawa pulang oleh Penerbangan Malaysia selepas sebulan.

Jumpa lagi!

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(1)haram = illegal, in this case prohibited by Islamic laws(2 )katak di bawah tempurung =literally, frog under a coconut shell denoting a shallow person who has not seen the world(3 )kaki botol= a person who likes to drink alcohol (4 )menikmati= enjoy(5 )wau bulan= moon kite, the logo of Malaysia Airlines

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