[1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 1, 1 abang. .. (Mal., Java) «Elder brother»; .. Also, familiarly, of persons regarded as elder brothers, such as elder cousins and intimate friends; occasionally, a term used by a wife to a husband..  1963 Richard Winstedt An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 1 abang.. elder brother, male cousin or male friend or one’s own generation, wife’s term for husband of any age..]

Mal. slang  A familiar term of address for a male relative or close friend who is of one’s generation but older than oneself.

act blur see entry under Blur.

action v. [< Eng. action n.]  1 Appear to be carrying on an activity, working, etc.; put on a display.  2 Boast, show off.
2 2001 Michelle Ho (quoting Louis Tan) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 14 January, P7 When the music is good, it’s fun to action a bit on the dance floor.  2005 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 30 January, L12 You very action, mah.  2006 Nur Amira Abdul Karim (quoting Ang Wei Kiat) The Sunday Times, 30 July, 35 Wei Kiat admits that his grasp of English grammar is poor and his vocabulary, weak. He does not speak “high class English” to his friends and family. Says Wei Kiat, “Wait people think I very action.”

agak /ah-gah(k), ˈɑɡɑ(k̚)/ n. & v. [Mal., conjecture, guessing; agak-agak approximately, as far as one can guess, more or less]  Also agak-agak.  A n. A guess, an estimation: Agaration.  B v. Guess, estimate.
2000 Cheong Suk-wai and Magdalene Lum (quoting Hooi Kok Wai) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 26 November, P2 ‘He was from the “no room for agak-agak” school of cooking. Every recipe had to have a precise formula, as he believed firmly that was the only way to keep the quality of dishes consistent.’ Agak-agak means to guesstimate.  2004 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Pamelia Lee) The Straits Times (LifeStyle), 9 May, 32 [A]ll along she’d cooked by agak (estimation). So when she wrote the cookbook, she had to discipline herself to putting everything into measurements.  B 2008 Huang Lijie (quoting Henrietta Tay) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 7 December, 28 “My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law used to tell me their recipes needed ‘a little of this and a little of that’, so I’m used to agak-agak.” Agak-agak is Malay for guesstimate.

Comb.:

ah beng, Ah Beng /beng, bEN/ n. & a. [a common Chinese male name, poss. Hk. 明 beng clear, bright; to illustrate, to illumine; to display, to distinguish (Medhurst); Mand. míng bright, brilliant, light; clear, distinct; open, overt, explicit; sharp-eyed, clear-sighted; aboveboard, honest; sight; understand, know (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also ellipt. beng, Beng. derog.  A n. A man perceived to be loutish and uncouth, and who follows fashion trends but is often viewed as lacking taste; the male counterpart of an Ah Huay or Ah Lian.  B a. Having the nature or attributes of an ah beng.
A 1999 Cleo, May. I’m the King of Bengs! [title] .. He says he doesn’t give a hoot if people call him an ah beng, a catch-all term for the uncouth, the uneducated, the unrefined, the unenlightened, who blindly define status by the brands they own.  .. “I’m the king of bengs,” he laughs, “I have my own Prada bag, Prada shoes, Prada jacket, Gucci belt, clothes from Calvin Klein, Armani, Valentino..”  1999 Clarissa Oon The Straits Times (Life!), 29 December, 9 He skulked around.. watching hard-core bengs drag on their cigarettes.  2000 Arti Mulchand The Straits Times (Life!), 21 July, 5 Tacky enough for an Ah Beng.  2001 Neil Humphreys Notes from an Even Smaller Island 83 My friend David is always reminding me to stay away from these dangerous gangsters who stalk the streets. These people are apparently so menacing that they have even been labelled with menacing names. The boys are called Ah Bengs and the girls Ah Lians. I have been warned by friends never to make eye contact with them, never to laugh at their ridiculous clothing combinations (white, skin-tight trousers and vest, black belt and a bright yellow handphone stuck to the hip) and never to get into an argument with them because they are usually armed with knives or, wait for it, parangs.  2001 Cheong Suk-Wai, Tee Hun Ching & Michelle Ho (quoting Eng Jeng Hwee) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 7 January, P3 Once the younger consumers hear the world ‘cognac’, they would think, “This is what Ah Bengs would drink.”  2003 Peh Shing Huei (quoting Allan Chia) The Sunday Times, 12 October, 32 Wayne Rooney can wait. He is still young. Anyway, he is a chao ah beng.  B 2000 Arti Mulchand The Straits Times (Life!), 21 July, 5 And beng or not, their radio ditties are catchier than the flu. .. Boom Boom Boom Boom is a staple in the Beng-mobile phone ringer collection.  2000 Chris Ho The Straits Times (Life!), 29 December, L6 This is the perfect pop album few believed [Kylie] Minogue could deliver. Campy, chic and also ‘beng’, Light Years is light all right but it also has X-factor thrill and dare.

ah chek /chek, tSEk/ n. [Hk. 叔 chek an uncle, a father’s brother (Medhurst); Mand. jìu mother’s brother, uncle (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A middle-aged or elderly man.
1987 Toh Paik Choo On the Buses 69 It’s ‘Ah Ko’ when he doesn’t look old enough to be your father and ‘Ah Chek’ when he does.  2000 Cheong Suk-Wai The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 3 September, 3 Lurking ah cheks, ah peks and ah sohs.  2005 Tan Chek Wee Today, 9 December, 47 It could be the ah pek, ah soh, ah chek, or even the pakcik or makcik – this syndrome seat-patting [sic: seat-patting syndrome?] spans all the major races in Singapore (well, all right, I have yet to see an ang moh doing so), transcending sex, educational level and age.

ah gua var. of ah kua, ah kwa.

ah huay, Ah Huay /huay, hUeI/ n. [a common Chinese female name, poss. Hk. 晖 hwuy bright, luminous, like the brightness of the sun (Medhurst); Mand. huī sunshine, sunlight (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); or Hk. 辉 hwuy < 光)辉 (kong) hwuy bright and brilliant (Medhurst); Mand. guānghuī radiance, brilliance, glory: guāng light, ray; brightness, lustre + huī brightness, splendour; shine (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); or Hk. 煇 hwuy the brightness of fire, as bright as fire (Medhurst; according to Lin a variation of 辉 hwuy); or Hk. 惠 hwūy favour, kindness; to be obedient; to bestow (Medhurst); Mand. huì favour, kindness, benefit (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); or Hk. 慧 hwūy a pliant disposition, susceptible of instruction; intelligent, wise (Medhurst); Mand. huì intelligent, bright (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); or Hk. 蕙 hwūy a fragrant plant which grows in low marshy places; if it yields but one flower on each stalk, and is very fragrant, it is called 兰 lân [Mand. lán orchid (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)], but if it yields several flowers and is deficient in fragrance, it is called 蕙 hwūy (Medhurst); Mand. huì a fragrant species of marshy orchid, called 蕙兰 huìlán, having many flowers on one stalk (Giles); a species of orchid (often 兰蕙 lánhuì), symbolic of purity, beauty or fragrance (Lin)]  Ah Lian.
2007 Peh Shing Huei (quoting Lee Bee Wah) The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 4 March. ‘Ah Huay’ MP on her Hokkien humour [title] .. [‘]I used to be called ‘auntie’; now I am younger, I’m Ah Huay,’ she said with a laugh.

ah kor /go (ko), g (k|)/ n. [Hk. 哥 kor (elder) brother; Mand. gē (elder) brother (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A waiter (?).
2006 Teo Pau Lin & Eunice Quek The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 24 June. Dressed in bow ties and maroon waistcoats, the silver-haired Hainanese ah kor (waiters) offer courtly, old-world service that harks back to post-war Singapore.

ah kua, ah kwa /kuah, kUAù/ n. & a. [poss. Hk. 瓜 kwa a melon (Medhurst); Mand. guā melon, gourd (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also ah gua, ah qua, and abbrev. to AK, AQ. derog.  A n. 1 An effeminate man.  2 A male transvestite.  B a. Effeminate, sissy.
A 1 1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 303 a koa peng. An effeminate soldier: Hokkien.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 33 Ar kwa (Hokkien) .. effeminate soldier.  2006 Leong Su-lin The Straits Times (Life!) (from Straits Times Interactive), 3 April. Kumar is a drag queen, not a transvestite. .. He has no desire to be a woman, he says, and he does not get a thrill from wearing women’s clothes. It is just part of his job. .. [W]hen he started out, he found jeers of ‘Ah Kwa’ (a Hokkien term used loosely to describe effeminate men) from the audience ‘really hurtful’, but forced himself to put on a facade.  2 2004 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Today, 9 April, 20 [W]ah lau eh, that one look like Changi Village Ah Gua, man!  2005 Karl Ho (quoting Gia Tamalas) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 22 May 2005, L4 People don’t say “eee, ah kuah” anymore, at least not in front of my face.  2008 Wong Kim Hoh The Straits Times (Saturday), 6 September, D2 Make-up artist Lynette Leong aka Ginger, in her 30s, says the [transsexual] community has to put up with many derogatory names, including ah kwa and bapok.  B 2006 Jeanine Tan (quoting Kumar) Today, 4 January, 32 They called me ah kua (Hokkien for sissy) lah, what else?

ah lian, Ah Lian /leearn, liùEn/ n. & a. [a common Chinese female name, poss. Hk. 莲 lëên < 莲(花 lëên (hwa) the water lily (Medhurst); Mand. lián lotus + huā flower, blossom, bloom (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); Hk. 荷)莲 (hô) lëên the lotus (Medhurst); Mand. hé lotus (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also ellipt. lian, Lian. derog.  A n. The female counterpart of an Ah Beng: a woman perceived to be loutish and uncouth, and who follows fashion trends but is often viewed as lacking taste.  B a. Having the nature or attributes of an ah lian.
A 2000 Yeow Kai Chai The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 2 July, 5 He has been accused of making Fann Wong look like a cheena ah lian.  2000 Theresa Tan & Neo Hui Min (quoting Jolin Tan) The Straits Times, 4 December, H10 Parents don’t spend much time with their kids in Singapore and they turn into ‘Bengs’ and ‘Lians’.  2000 Samuel Lee The Straits Times (Life!), 29 December, L8 You can’t deny that it was a good tune. Even if the Bengs and Lians latched on six months after the general populace.  2001 Michelle Ho The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 14 January, P7 Often labelled as Bengs and Lians, they howl in Hokkien and gesture in unison while dancing to Euro-trance.  B 2000 Jason Wee The Straits Times (Life!), 16 October, 8 An ah lian manicurist.  2001 Clarissa Oon (quoting Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie) The Straits Times (Life!), 9 July, L5 So what’s the most lian thing about you?  .. Actually, I do not think I’m lian at all, definitely not my dressing.  2004 Lim Kuan Chiang Today, 14 May, 48 [W]e’re not going to go back to those ah lian insults published in the press last month.

ah long, ah long san /long, lN/ n. [poss. Hk. 狼 lông a wolf (Medhurst); Mand. láng wolf (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); compare Hk. 豺狼 ch’haê lông (Medhurst); Mand. cháiláng jackals and wolves – cruel and evil people (Chi.–Eng. Dict.) + poss. Hk. 山 sân a hill (Medhurst); Mand. shān hill, mountain (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  An illegal moneylender, a loan shark.
1998  The Straits Times, 19 July, 1 Ah Longs cut short credit lines [title] .. A resident.. has obviously defaulted on his loan from an ‘ah long’, or loan shark. 1998 The Straits Times, 19 July, 3 A friend set up the meeting with the Ah Long (loan shark in Hokkien)..  2001 The Straits Times, 6 January, H13 He was visiting ah longs (loansharks) and he had to bring his girlfriend along as a guarantor!  2003 Tan Shzr Ee (quoting Anthony Teo) The Sunday Times, 5 October, L2 Ah Long San, triad boss, gangster.  I’ve done all the bad guys..  Bad guy more interesting, I can be more expressive.  2006 The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 20 March. Ah Longs not having it easy now [title].. He used to be a loan shark or Ah Long, and the headman for Ang Soon Tong secret society. He ran an illegal moneylending business for 30 years, making up to $20,000 a day when times were good in the early 1990s. .. Sighing in resignation, he summed up the bad times loan sharks were facing these days in Hokkien: ‘Ah long pai tan’.  2006 Faith Teo The New Paper, 26 December, 10 Ah Long Version 2.0 [title].. Three years later, in 2001, Chua’s loanshark brother, Tiong Tiong (he was known as Ah Long San) was jailed for 10 years. .. [L]oansharks have been increasingly switching to high technology to cover their tracks. In the old days, loansharks and borrowers met in coffeeshops, often in Geylang – to discuss the terms of a loan, hand out money, and collect repayments. .. These days, communication by handphone is enough. That way, the loanshark maintains his anonymity. And runners no longer wait outside homes to confront debtors. Surprise “gifts” of pig heads are a thing of the past. Now, they deliver “hell notes” to the debtor and his neighbours through their post boxes. Others splash paint on doors in the dead of the night.

ah pek /pe, pE/ n. [Hk. 伯 pek a superior, an elder; (vernacular) 阿伯 aⁿ păyh an uncle (Medhurst); Mand. bó father’s elder brother, uncle (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  Also ah peh.  A middle-aged or elderly man.
2000 Cheong Suk-Wai The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 3 September, 3 Lurking ah cheks, ah peks and ah sohs.  2000 Cheong Suk-Wai The Sunday Times (Life! This Weekend), 28 September, 6 A mangy bunch of ah peks, ah cheks and ah tees making a beeline there.  2001 Tan Shzr Ee The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 22 April, P8 Ah peks (old uncles) sitting on newspapers laid over dew-covered park benches sigh mournfully into the morning air.  2001 Matthew Pan (quoting Nasir bin Kiram) The Straits Times (National Day Special 2001), 9 August, 9 We passed motion into a bucket, and an old ah pek collected the bucket the next morning.  2002 The Straits Times (Life! This Weekend), 12 April, L22  I often see ah peks at kopitiams shaking their legs while enjoying their kopi.  [2006 William Gwee Thian Hock A Baba Malay Dictionary 22 ah pek [阿伯] term of address for an elderly Chinese gentleman]

ah qua var. of ah kua, ah kwa.

ah soh /soa, s«U/ n. & a. [Hk. 嫂 só a sister-in-law (Medhurst); Mand. sǎu elder brother’s wife, sister-in-law (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A n. A middle-aged or elderly woman, esp. one perceived to be of a low class.  B a. Of or pertaining to a middle-aged or elderly woman: old-fashioned, gossipy, complaining.
A 2000 Yeow Kai Chai The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 2 July, 5 So, weep, all you ah sohs.  2000 Tee Hun Cheng (quoting Andrew Ho) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 23 July, 2 Trendy ah sohs who want to be different.  2000 Cheong Suk-Wai The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 3 September, 3 Lurking ah cheks, ah peks and ah sohs. 2000 Kelvin Tong The Straits Times (Life! This Weekend), 23 November, 9 How can like that? Where got man dress like ah soh?  2001 Leong Chan Teik & Deborah Ng The Sunday Times, 14 January, 38 It’s a different crowd now compared to about three years ago – not so much the tai-tais but the ah sohs.  2006 Tan Chek Wee Today (Todayonline.com), 5 October. After the British soldiers left Singapore, she worked as a coffee lady (kopi ah soh) in offices, making drinks and carrying out cleaning chores.  B 2000 Tee Hun Cheng (quoting Wendy Ng) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 23 July, 2 The image is so ‘ah-soh’!

ah-balling /ah-boh-ling, ˈɑːbəʊlɪŋ/ n. [poss. Teo. 鸭母 ah⁴bho² duck egg (ah⁴ the name of a water fowl, commonly used to refer to the domestic duck which has a flat beak and short legs, webs between its toes, and is good at swimming but unable to fly high + bho² mother) (Chaozhou Dict.) + (?) ling [the Chinese character cannot be displayed due to software limitations: it consists of a 米 radical with 零 on the right] (not found in Chaozhou Dict.); Mand. yā duck + mǔ mother + líng (literary language) rice cake, rice pastry (Comp. Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also ah balling, arboling.  A Chinese (Teochew) dessert consisting of glutinous rice balls with a sweet filling such as red bean, peanut or sesame paste, usu. served in a light sweetened syrup.
¶ Known in Mand. as 汤圆 tāngyuán: tāng soup, broth + yuán round, circular; spherical.
2003 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times, 5 October, L38 Machine-made ah-balling, or glutinous rice balls, are now readily available in supermarkets. .. All five types of fillings – red bean, green bean, yam, peanut and sesame – are made by hand. And, in keeping with the Teochew tradition, the sugar syrup is flavoured simply with pandan leaves.  2005 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 31 July. Hai Sing Ah Balling .. Loh Yeow Seng, 59, started helping at his father’s stall in the now-demolished Ellenborough market, near Clarke Quay, more than 30 years ago. The average waiting time was one hour because every glutinous rice ball was hand-made upon each order. Eschewing machine-made convenience, he still makes them by hand today, and the difference is clear. The texture of the rice ball is so smooth that your lips could clamp down on one and it wouldn’t stick to you.  2006 Kuek Lin The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 17 September. Her ah-balling are bursting with peanut filling and have a smooth, thin skin. Delicious when eaten hot.  2008 Chen Fen Today, 18–19 October, 39 Give the usual sesame cream and ah bohling dumplings a miss.

air-con /air-kon, ˈɛːkɒn/ n., v. & a. [Eng., abbrev. of air-conditioner, air-conditioning] Also aircon.  A n. Air-conditioner.  B v. Install an air-conditioner; cool a room using an air-conditioner.  C a. Air-conditioned, cooled by air-conditioning.
A 2000 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Dasmond Koh) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 3 December, P26 People think we just.. enjoy the air-con.  2005 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Today, 6 May, 32 [F]ewer people will loiter.. less air-con will be used. Added cost savings!  2005 Tay Yek Keak The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 7 August. I hear complaints every day. Half of them in my head, from me complaining about me to me. At first they sound very irritating. Then they turn into a droning noise like an air-con that’s been running too long. Then they gain a rhythm. Now, they’re background music I cannot shake off. ..  2007 Neil Humphreys Weekend Today (from Todayonline.com), 20 January. Singapore might be a fine city but it’s also a humid one, so don’t even think about messing with their air-con.  B 2005 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Today, 22 April, 30 There will still be security cameras in our casinos, but at least the place will be aircon-ed.  2006 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 18 June. Wouldn’t this be a more pleasant experience if they air-conned the whole stadium?  C 1987 Toh Paik Choo On the Buses 16 Air-con buses.  2003 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Today, 5 December, 54 Apparently, there are soldiers out there who believe the new IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) in an aircon gym is not a good thing.  2005 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Today, 18 March, 36 [W]e decided to stick to the air-con places.

air-level /air-le-vəl, ˈɛːˌlɛvəl/ n. [< Eng., mispron. of A-level (examinations)] derog. mil. slang. A person educated up to the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level standard; fig. a person perceived to be more intelligent than oneself, a smart-aleck.
1991 Valerie Tan The Straits Times (Section 3), 9 August, 19 air-level – a person with A levels.  1994 C.S. Chong NS: An Air-Level Story [back cover] Air Level.. Army lingo for A-level. An obvious corruption used to ridicule A-Level trainees when they failed to meet commanders’ expectations.  7 I have tried to bring them to life in their ‘Air Level’ mindset, complete with all their strengths, weaknesses and language.  64 He said he was not afraid of ‘Air-Levels’.

aiyah /ı-yah, ʌɪˈjɑː/ int. [Mand. 哎呀 āiyā]  An exclamation used at the beginning of a sentence to expr. consternation, despair, dismay, exasperation, etc.
1989 David Henry Hwang M. Butterfly Aaaa-ya! How can you use such sickening language?  1991 Valerie Tan The Straits Times (Section 3), 9 August, 19 aiyah! – [exasperated exclamation], from Chinese.  2000 Cheong Suk-Wai (quoting Sim Bak Sun) The Straits Times (Life! This Weekend), 13 July, 7 Aiyah, what to do, I was not smart enough for higher studies.  2000 Diane Tan (quoting Patricia Mok) The Straits Times (Life!), 4 September, 20 Aiya, the people around us thought we were acting. 2000 Cheong Suk-wai The Straits Times (Life!), 25 November, L12 Aiya, your father will be harvesting his cherry tomatoes as usual.  2002 “Nine Made Instant Millionaires” (quoting Lim Leng Beng) The Straits Times, 26 February 1 Aiyah, bought at the wrong place.  2006 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 12 March. ‘Aiyah,’ sighed the Wife. ‘I guess people don’t believe you’re a real star unless you dress like one.’  2006 Ben Nadarajan & K.C. Vijayan (quoting Lawrence Lai) The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 27 April. Aiyah, it’s you again.  2006 Cheong Suk-Wai (quoting Khalid Mohamad Jiwa) The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 20 August, L4 “Aiyah, you ahhh,” he drawls in a chiding tone, before breaking into throaty chuckles.

aiyoh /ı-yoh, ʌɪˈjəʊ/ int. [Mand. 哎哟 āiyō]  An exclamation expr. concern, consternation, dismay, frustration, surprise, etc.
2000 Karamjit Kaur The Straits Times, 15 February, 44 Aiyoh, that’s all is it?  2000 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Dasmond Koh) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 3 December, P26 Aiyoh, we sound so guai (decent)!  2006 Juliana June Rasul (quoting Sheila Majid) Today, 25 July, 30 Aiyoh! Don’t call me that [a veteran] lah. Macam (like) pensioner lah.

a-jay /ay-jay, ˈeɪdʒeɪ/ n. & a. [Eng. gay in pig Latin with the g modified to j] Also ay-jay.  Homosexual, gay.  Compare G, PLU.

AK abbrev. of ah kua, ah kwa.

Ali Baba bag n. [Eng., poss. f. the fact that the bag appears tall enough to contain a person, like the oil-jars that the thieves hid in to attack Ali Baba, a fictional character in the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves f. The Arabian Nights or A Thousand and One Nights; compare Ali Baba basket a tall laundry basket resembling in shape the oil-jars in which the thieves hid to attack Ali Baba]  mil.  A soldier’s duffle bag or kit bag, a tall cylindrical canvas bag for carrying personal belongings.
1981 Martin Choo (ed.) The Singapore Armed Forces 108 Each enlistee leaves.. with items packed into a duffel bag more commonly known as the ‘Ali-Baba’ bag.  1990 Mickey Chiang Fighting Fit: The Singapore Armed Forces 112 At the General Supply Base, they receive their army kit, and an ‘Ali Baba’ bag, a big duffle bag large enough to contain all their kit.. and more. .. To the young recruit who is already carrying a civilian bag packed with his belongings and spare civilian clothing, the Ali Baba bag is a man-size load.

[1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 1, 40 apa. .. What; how; which; somehow; somewhat. An idiomatic word giving a suggestion of indefiniteness or interrogation – even contemptuous interrogation – to the sentence in which it occurs. .. Apa macham: what kind of; how; what.  vol. 2, 717 macham. Sort; type; kind; like. A word much used in Bazaar-Malay: .. apa m[acham] (how)..]

What’s this?, what’s up?, how are you doing?
[1963 Richard Winstedt An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 222 apa m[acham]? what’s this? what’s up?]  2006 Nur Amira Abdul Karim (quoting Ahmad Ali Hatta) The Sunday Times, 30 July, 35 I say ‘wassup?’ or ‘amacam?’ which are equivalent to ‘how are you?’ to my friends. But I would certainly not write that down in an essay. I doubt any other student would.