Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami perlu strategi baru supaya rapat tidak lama. - We need a new strategy so that the meeting is not long.

Kami is exclusive “we”—it refers to the speaker plus others, but not the person being spoken to.
Kita is inclusive “we”—it refers to the speaker, the listener, and possibly others.

Why does the sentence use perlu instead of butuh or harus?

Perlu means “need” or “require” and is neutral in tone.
Butuh is more colloquial and informal; native speakers use it in everyday speech.
Harus means “must” or “have to,” implying obligation rather than mere necessity.
In this context, kami perlu strategi baru conveys “we need a new strategy” without the stronger imperative sense of harus.

What role does supaya play here, and can I replace it with agar or untuk?

Supaya introduces a purpose clause: “so that” or “in order that.”
You can swap supaya with agar with virtually no change in meaning (though agar can sound slightly more formal).
You cannot use untuk in the same way. Untuk
- verb (infinitive) expresses purpose at the clause level (e.g., untuk mempercepat “to speed up”), but it doesn’t link two independent clauses.

Why is there no verb like “is” before rapat tidak lama?

Indonesian typically omits the copular verb “to be.” In a clause like rapat tidak lama, rapat is the subject/noun and tidak lama is the adjective phrase (“not long”). Together they function as a complete predicate: “the meeting [will] not be long.”

Why is tidak placed before lama instead of after or elsewhere?

In Indonesian, tidak negates adjectives and verbs by preceding them. So when you want to say “not long,” you put tidak directly in front of lama. Placing it elsewhere would either be ungrammatical or change which element is negated.

Could I say rapatnya tidak lama instead of rapat tidak lama? What changes?

Yes, you can add the possessive/definite suffix -nya: rapatnya tidak lama means “the meeting won’t be long” with a slightly stronger sense of “that particular meeting.” Omitting -nya keeps it more general (“meetings” in general or just a meeting).

Why is the adjective baru placed after the noun strategi and not before it?

In standard Indonesian, descriptive adjectives usually follow the noun they modify. Hence strategi baru (“new strategy”) is the natural order. Placing the adjective before (baru strategi) would sound awkward or poetic rather than the normal descriptive form.

Are there alternative ways to say supaya rapat tidak lama?

Yes. You can express the same idea with different wording:

supaya rapat cepat selesai (“so that the meeting finishes quickly”)
agar rapat tidak memakan waktu lama (“in order that the meeting doesn’t take up much time”)
supaya rapat singkat (“so the meeting is brief”)

These all carry roughly the same purpose clause meaning.