06 April 2010

repair kasut

Here's a sign by the side of Jalan Subok, near BSB. As you can no doubt guess, kasut means 'shoe'.Is there no word in Malay for repair? My dictionary tells me that membaiki is 'to repair', and the noun is pembaikan (both derived from the root baik 'good'). But maybe the English word sounds more fashionable or sophisticated or something.

This sign illustrates the widespread mixing between Malay and English that occurs in Brunei. Sometimes I hear speakers switching between the two languages several times in one sentence.