Karaoke bermula dengan balada.

Bermula means to begin / to start.

The root word is mula = start / beginning.
Adding the prefix ber- often makes it into an intransitive verb, meaning the subject itself begins or starts.

So:

• mula can be a noun or a simpler verb form depending on context
• bermula clearly works as begins / starts

In Karaoke bermula dengan balada, bermula means karaoke begins or the karaoke starts.

You may also hear mula used in casual speech, but bermula sounds very natural and standard in this kind of sentence.

Malay does not usually use articles like the or a/an the way English does.

So:

• karaoke can mean karaoke or the karaoke session, depending on context
• balada can mean a ballad or ballads, depending on context

Malay often leaves definiteness unstated unless it really needs to be clarified. The situation or previous context tells you whether something is specific.

Dengan usually means with.

In this sentence, dengan balada means with a ballad or with ballads, depending on context.

So the structure is:

• Karaoke = the subject
• bermula = begins
• dengan balada = with a ballad / with ballads

This gives the idea that the karaoke session starts off by using a ballad.

Not always. Dengan is very common, but Malay has several ways to express ideas that English often translates as with.

For example:

• dengan = with, by, using, together with
• bersama = together with
• menggunakan = using

In Karaoke bermula dengan balada, dengan works well because it links the start of the karaoke session to the type of song it begins with.

This follows the basic Malay word order:

Subject + Verb + Other information

So:

• Karaoke = subject
• bermula = verb
• dengan balada = prepositional phrase

That is very similar to normal English word order:

• Karaoke begins with a ballad

So for an English speaker, this sentence is fairly straightforward structurally.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Malay nouns usually do not have separate singular and plural forms unless the speaker wants to emphasize plurality.

So balada could mean:

• a ballad
• ballads
• the ballad, if the context makes it clear

If someone wanted to explicitly mark plurality, they might use reduplication:

• balada-balada = ballads

But in many cases, Malay leaves number unmarked.

It is a borrowed word, ultimately related to ballad. Malay contains many borrowed words from other languages, especially for music, technology, and modern culture.

That is very normal in Malay. So a sentence like this can contain:

• Karaoke — also a borrowed international word
• balada — a borrowed literary/music term

This is completely natural.

A simple approximate guide:

• bermula ≈ buhr-MOO-lah
• balada ≈ bah-LAH-dah
• karaoke in Malay is often pronounced more like ka-ra-o-ke

A few useful pronunciation tips:

• Malay vowels are usually pronounced more consistently than in English.
• Each written vowel is generally sounded.
• The r in Malay is usually pronounced, not silent.

So bermula is not like English berm-yoo-la. It is more evenly pronounced syllable by syllable.

Yes. Because Malay does not always mark articles or number, several English translations may fit:

• The karaoke starts with a ballad
• Karaoke begins with a ballad
• The karaoke session begins with ballads
• Karaoke starts with a ballad song

The best English version depends on the context already given.

Yes, it is a useful pattern.

The pattern is:

[something] + bermula + dengan + [something]

Examples:

• Majlis bermula dengan ucapan alu-aluan.
  The event begins with a welcoming speech.

• Filem itu bermula dengan adegan yang tenang.
  The film begins with a calm scene.

• Kelas bermula dengan latihan ringkas.
  The class begins with a short exercise.

So bermula dengan is a very useful phrase for saying that something starts with something else.

It sounds mostly neutral and perfectly normal in standard Malay.

• bermula sounds slightly more polished than very casual speech
• karaoke and balada are everyday understandable words

So the sentence would fit well in normal written Malay and also in spoken Malay, especially in a description or narration.