Orang itu ditahan di stesen.

In Malay, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun.

• orang itu = that person
• rumah itu = that house
• buku ini = this book

So Malay word order is more like person that than that person.

Orang usually means person or people, depending on context.

In this sentence, orang itu is understood as that person. If you wanted to make the plural more explicit, Malay often uses reduplication:

• orang itu = that person / those people, depending on context
• orang-orang itu = those people

In everyday use, orang is a very common general word for person.

Ditahan comes from the root tahan, which can mean hold, stop, endure, or restrain, depending on context.

With the prefix di-, it becomes a passive form, so ditahan can mean things like:

• detained
• arrested
• held
• stopped

In a sentence like this, the most natural sense is usually detained or arrested.

Yes. Di- is a very common passive marker in Malay.

So:

• menahan = to detain / to arrest
• ditahan = be detained / be arrested

This means the sentence focuses on the person receiving the action, not on the person doing it.

A more active version would be something like:

• Polis menahan orang itu di stesen.
  = The police detained that person at the station.

This is a very important spelling point in Malay.

There are two different di forms:

1. di as a preposition meaning at / in / on

   • written separately
   • example: di stesen, di rumah, di sekolah

2. di- as a passive prefix on a verb

   • written attached
   • example: ditahan, dibuka, ditulis

So:

• di stesen = at the station
• ditahan = was detained

Same spelling sound, different grammar.

Malay di is broader than any one English preposition. It can often correspond to at, in, or on, depending on the situation.

So di stesen is usually best understood as:

• at the station

But in another context, English might choose in the station. Malay does not usually force that distinction as strictly as English does.

Stesen is a general word for station. The exact type depends on context.

It could refer to:

• a train station
• a bus station
• a police station
• another kind of station

If Malay wants to be more specific, it can add another word, such as:

• stesen kereta api = train station
• stesen bas = bus station
• balai polis = police station

So by itself, stesen is somewhat general.

Malay does not usually need a separate verb like was in the same way English does.

Tense is often understood from context, or shown with time words if needed. So a sentence like this can naturally be translated into English with is, was, or sometimes even has been, depending on context.

For example:

• Orang itu ditahan di stesen.
  could mean That person was detained at the station or That person is being detained at the station, depending on the situation.

If you want to make time clearer, you can add words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• tadi = earlier
• sekarang = now

Yes, you can omit it in some contexts, but the meaning changes.

• Orang itu ditahan di stesen.
  clearly says that person was detained at the station.

• Ditahan di stesen.
  means something like Was detained at the station, but the subject is left unstated.

Malay often omits subjects when they are already understood from context, but if you are introducing the person clearly, keeping orang itu is better.

Yes, in colloquial Malay, kena is often used to show that someone is affected by something, especially something unpleasant.

• Orang itu ditahan di stesen.
  more standard, neutral, and formal

• Orang itu kena tahan di stesen.
  more conversational; roughly that person got detained at the station

Both are possible, but ditahan is the more standard form for careful written Malay.

You would need to mention the doer of the action.

For example:

• Polis menahan orang itu di stesen.
  = The police detained that person at the station.

Here:

• polis = police
• menahan = detained
• orang itu = that person
• di stesen = at the station

So the original sentence is passive, while this one is active.

Yes, it is natural and correct.

It is short, clear, and grammatical. It sounds like the kind of sentence you might see in a news report, police report, or formal narration.

Its style is fairly neutral and standard, especially because of the passive verb ditahan.