Kabel brek rosak; oleh itu, kami membaiki basikal.

Malay often leaves out the verb to be in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Kabel brek rosak = The brake cable is/was broken
• literally, it is more like Brake cable broken

This is very normal in Malay. A noun can be followed directly by an adjective or description:

• Basikal itu besar = That bicycle is big
• Rumah saya jauh = My house is far

The time reference usually comes from context, not from a separate is/was word.

Rosak usually means broken, damaged, not working properly, or faulty.

Depending on context, Kabel brek rosak could mean:

• the brake cable is broken
• the brake cable is damaged
• the brake cable is faulty

So rosak is a broad everyday word for something that is not in proper working condition.

In Malay, the main noun usually comes first, and the describing noun comes after it.

So:

• kabel = cable
• brek = brake
• kabel brek = brake cable

This is a very common pattern in Malay:

• kedai buku = bookshop
• air hujan = rainwater
• bas sekolah = school bus

English often puts the describing noun first, but Malay usually puts it second.

Oleh itu means therefore, for that reason, or thus.

It links the first idea to the result:

• Kabel brek rosak; oleh itu, kami membaiki basikal.
• The brake cable was broken; therefore, we repaired the bicycle.

It is a fairly formal or written-style connector. In more casual speech, Malay speakers might often say:

• jadi = so
• sebab itu = for that reason / that's why

For example:

• Kabel brek rosak, jadi kami membaiki basikal.

The semicolon helps separate two closely related clauses:

1. Kabel brek rosak
2. oleh itu, kami membaiki basikal

This punctuation is acceptable and quite natural in writing, especially formal writing.

But Malay can also write this in other ways, for example:

• Kabel brek rosak. Oleh itu, kami membaiki basikal.
• Kabel brek rosak, jadi kami membaiki basikal.

So the semicolon is not the only possible choice; it is just one neat written style.

Kami means we, but it is exclusive: it does not include the person being spoken to.

Kita also means we, but it is inclusive: it does include the listener.

So:

• kami membaiki basikal = we repaired the bicycle (not including you)
• kita membaiki basikal = we repaired the bicycle (including you)

This is an important Malay distinction that English does not make.

Membaiki means to repair, to fix, or to mend.

It comes from the root baik, which has the idea of good or in good condition. With the verb form membaiki, it means something like to make something good again.

So:

• baik = good / fine
• membaiki = to repair / to fix

In this sentence:

• kami membaiki basikal = we repaired the bicycle

This is a transitive verb, so it normally takes an object, here basikal.

Malay does not usually mark tense on the verb the way English does.

So membaiki can mean:

• repair
• repaired
• are repairing
• were repairing

The exact time comes from context, or from time words if needed.

For example:

• semalam kami membaiki basikal = yesterday we repaired the bicycle
• sekarang kami membaiki basikal = now we are repairing the bicycle

In your sentence, the English meaning may be past, but the Malay itself does not force that reading by grammar alone.

Malay does not use articles like English a, an, and the.

So:

• kabel brek can mean a brake cable or the brake cable
• basikal can mean a bicycle or the bicycle

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

If needed, Malay can make something more specific in other ways, for example:

• basikal itu = that bicycle / the bicycle
• sebuah basikal = a bicycle

But in many sentences, no article is needed at all.

Yes. Brek is a common Malay word for brake, borrowed from English.

Malay uses many loanwords, especially for modern objects and technology. So kabel brek is perfectly normal.

You may also notice that borrowed words are adapted to Malay spelling and pronunciation patterns.

It can, yes.

Malay often expresses the larger affected object rather than naming only the exact part being fixed. So if the brake cable was broken, saying kami membaiki basikal is natural because repairing the cable is part of repairing the bicycle.

If you wanted to be more specific, you could say:

• kami membaiki kabel brek basikal = we repaired the bicycle’s brake cable

But the original sentence is still natural and understandable.

In practice, rosak often behaves like an adjective in translations such as broken or damaged, but in Malay it can function very naturally as the predicate of a sentence without any extra verb.

So:

• Telefon itu rosak = The phone is broken
• Mesin itu rosak = The machine is broken

For learners, it is often easiest to think of rosak as a descriptive word meaning broken/damaged, while remembering that Malay does not need is before it.