Remember the controversy surrounding Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka Malaysia (DBP)'s usage of the word "keling" to define the word "tambi" recently?

If you want the full story, you can check it out here:


We still can't brain the whole "tambi" matter; while DBP clarified and replaced the word "keling" with "India", it still doesn't make sense.

Why?

1. Tambi is a Tamil word. Why is it in a Malay dictionary in the first place?

2. The second definition states that a "tambi" is a "pelayan pejabat".

Imagine screaming out "Tambi! Tambi!" when referring to your current office boy/girl or clerk, regardless of race.

That would be really weird, right?

Anyway, following all the drama, we decided to look up some random words using DBP's online dictionary and boy, did we open a can of worms!


Here are some other words that we found that contained some interesting descriptions:

#1 Sepet

A friend sent us this screenshot, and we JUST CANNOT.

While we have no issues with DBP's definition of the word "sepet", what's with the example lah?

"Matanya sepet juga, macam mata orang Cina" (His or her eyes are squinted as well, just like a Chinese person).

It's inappropriate and plain racist, plain and simple.

#2 Sakai

The word "sakai" is defined as "orang yang di bawah perintah, orang bawahan yang boleh disuruh-suruh", which translates to "a person that is ruled or a subordinate who can be commanded".

We could not help going "WTF" reading this definition.

The Senoi people are also known as Sakai but many of them have come to despise the term due to its derogatory nature.

We're pretty sure that this definition only fans the flames further.

#3 Hamba

Elaborating on the word "hamba" or "slave", DBP attempts to define what a sex slave is and we are rolling our eyes so hard.

"Hamba sex - perempuan yang dipaksa melayan keinginan nafsu seks lelaki." (Sex slave - a woman forced to indulge in male sexual desires)

Seriously, DBP? SERIOUSLY?

"Kahwin" or "marriage".

It's a fairly simple word. What could go wrong, right? Wrong!

DBP's definition:

"Kahwin - kahwin antara dua orang yang berlainan bangsa atau berlainan agama." (Marriage - marriage between two people of different races or different religions)​

Someone probably made a mistake here but it's so strange that it's 2021 and it was never corrected.

#5 Peria

All this while we thought "peria" meant "bitter gourd".

DBP defines "peria" as "lelaki yang masih muda, pemuda" (a man who is still young or a young man).

A friend suggested that maybe the term refers to a young man's appendage, but what do we know.

We're really confused by this one so we did a quick Google image search and we got pages and pages and pages of bitter gourd.

(Of course we also did a usual Google search and nothing either.)

Even if young men were at one time referred to as "peria", maybe DBP should have included the bitter gourd version too.

Some baffling words

Here are a few other actual Malay words that just left a bad taste in our mouths.

"Orang dapur", or "kitchen person", is an term used to describe a wife or woman that sorts out daily food preparation.

However, no male version is mentioned in the definition.

Meanwhile, the word "hitam birat" allows you the rare opportunity to be both racist and rude at the same time.

It is defined as someone who's skin is not only black but ugly as well.

We're not even kidding! Check out the definition below:

And then there's this golden term called "cina buta".

Initially, we thought it was an example that DBP provided on how to use the word "cina" but after looking it up, "cina buta" is actually a proper Malay term.

It means a man who marries a divorcee and then he divorces her so that she can remarry her first husband.

Why is it "cina buta" or "blind Chinese"? We're honestly not sure.

What is a dictionary?

We're pretty sure that DBP is going to come back with "valid excuses" for all the words we have highlighted.

Dictionaries are the first thing that a person who isn't proficient in the language will turn to.

You define words, you set the precedence to how is it used and help shape how the word evolves.

This is the reason there are updated editions of dictionaries kan?

If the word or definition has racist, sexist or inappropriate tones, include a disclaimer and a proper explanation.

For a government body responsible for coordinating the use of the Malay language and Malay-language literature in Malaysia, you can do so much better DBP!