My formal education in Bahasa Malaysia ended way back in 1967, so I shall leave the semantics of the language to a Malay gentleman, better known in Parliament as 'Raub', one of the few Malay DAP members of Parliament, ex-Umno ADUN of Pahang, better known as blogger, Sakmongkol AK47.
According to YB Dato Mohd Ariff Sabri,
'Celaka is a common term. The Melaka people use the word as a plaything. The Indonesian Malay uses the term to describe something unfortunate, bad, or in that sense.
The person who said it is a lawyer. He would be more than willing to defend himself in court if the matter is brought so. Shahidan Kassim, the hypocrite UMNO Malay pretending to be a good Muslim urged the AG to charge the adun for sedition. Then do so. Call in the Linguists to testify what the word means.'
Rest of his article in his blog:
The Insouciant PM is letting this country plunge into anarchy.
Link
According to YB Dato Mohd Ariff Sabri,
'Celaka is a common term. The Melaka people use the word as a plaything. The Indonesian Malay uses the term to describe something unfortunate, bad, or in that sense.
The person who said it is a lawyer. He would be more than willing to defend himself in court if the matter is brought so. Shahidan Kassim, the hypocrite UMNO Malay pretending to be a good Muslim urged the AG to charge the adun for sedition. Then do so. Call in the Linguists to testify what the word means.'
Rest of his article in his blog:
The Insouciant PM is letting this country plunge into anarchy.
http://sakmongkol.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-insouciant-pm-is-letting-this.html
Update:
What does the word 'celaka' mean to a Penang Peranakan?
According to Bob Teoh:
'To me, a Penang Peranakan or Straits-born, the word is often uttered in our community seemingly without offence to anybody and none is usually intended. “Celaka!” is word that comes effortlessly out of the mouth in the midst of a conversation much like an exclamation. It's bazaar Malay to Penang Hokkiens, and even other Penangnites, a word like many others which have entered into our vocabulary.'
'So what does celaka mean to me? I have often heard this word uttered within family circles even in the presence of polite company when something unpleasant happened, something akin to bad luck, something accursed or plainly dammed like in “damn it”. Or simply as sial, another Malay word transliterated into colloquial Hokkein as swoey to mean more or less the same thing. It also depends on the manner it is said. For instance, when this word is shouted at someone, then the anger and hatred is unmistakable and it becomes immediately offensive and unforgiveable.'
'While my wife and I were living in Kalimantan where the trunk road through our little village is so bad we keep hearing our colleagues using the word “kecelakaan” only to realise later they meant “kemalangan” to mean accidents as we know it in Malaysia. Same word but different context.
While still on this word, the phrase “celaka besar” means calamity. The Oxford Dictionary defines this to mean “grievous disaster.”
Rest of his article:
Celaka, damn it!
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/98507?tid=12
Update:
What does the word 'celaka' mean to a Penang Peranakan?
According to Bob Teoh:
'To me, a Penang Peranakan or Straits-born, the word is often uttered in our community seemingly without offence to anybody and none is usually intended. “Celaka!” is word that comes effortlessly out of the mouth in the midst of a conversation much like an exclamation. It's bazaar Malay to Penang Hokkiens, and even other Penangnites, a word like many others which have entered into our vocabulary.'
'So what does celaka mean to me? I have often heard this word uttered within family circles even in the presence of polite company when something unpleasant happened, something akin to bad luck, something accursed or plainly dammed like in “damn it”. Or simply as sial, another Malay word transliterated into colloquial Hokkein as swoey to mean more or less the same thing. It also depends on the manner it is said. For instance, when this word is shouted at someone, then the anger and hatred is unmistakable and it becomes immediately offensive and unforgiveable.'
'While my wife and I were living in Kalimantan where the trunk road through our little village is so bad we keep hearing our colleagues using the word “kecelakaan” only to realise later they meant “kemalangan” to mean accidents as we know it in Malaysia. Same word but different context.
While still on this word, the phrase “celaka besar” means calamity. The Oxford Dictionary defines this to mean “grievous disaster.”
Rest of his article:
Celaka, damn it!
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/98507?tid=12
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