Pemotongan bekalan berlaku kerana tunggakan bil.

Pemotongan is a noun meaning cutting, cut-off, or disconnection, depending on context.

It comes from the root potong = to cut.

Malay often forms nouns with the pattern peN- ... -an, so:

• potong = cut
• pemotongan = the act or result of cutting / a cut-off

Because of normal sound changes in Malay, the p of potong drops after the prefix, giving pemotongan, not pempotongan.

In this sentence, pemotongan bekalan means supply disconnection or cutting off the supply.

Malay noun phrases usually put the main noun first and the describing noun after it.

So:

• pemotongan bekalan = disconnection of supply / supply disconnection
• literally: cutting + supply

This is the normal Malay order. English often uses of or puts the modifier first, but Malay usually does not.

Bekalan means supply.

In everyday use, it can refer to many kinds of supply, but in official or utility-related contexts it often means:

• electricity supply
• water supply
• gas supply

So pemotongan bekalan is often used in notices from utility companies to mean disconnection of service.

Berlaku means to happen, to occur, or to take place.

So the structure is roughly:

• Pemotongan bekalan berlaku ...
• A supply disconnection occurs ...

This sounds formal and official. It is common in announcements, reports, and notices.

Because berlaku expresses an event happening, while adalah and ialah are mainly used to equate one thing with another.

Here, the sentence is talking about an event:

• Pemotongan bekalan berlaku kerana ...
• The disconnection happens because ...

If you used adalah or ialah, it would not sound natural for this meaning.

Kerana means because of or because.

It is more formal and is very common in writing, notices, and official language.

Sebab can also mean because, but it is more common in speech and less formal writing.

So:

• kerana tunggakan bil = formal
• sebab tunggakan bil = more conversational

Both are understandable, but kerana fits this sentence better.

Tunggakan bil means bill arrears, outstanding bills, or overdue bill payments.

Breakdown:

• tunggakan = arrears / overdue amount
• bil = bill

So this phrase refers to money that has not been paid on time.

In natural English, you would usually translate the whole phrase, not word by word.

No. In this sentence, tunggakan is a noun.

It refers to arrears or outstanding payments.

A related form is:

• tertunggak = overdue / in arrears

For example:

• bil tertunggak = overdue bill
• tunggakan bil = bill arrears / overdue bill payments

So Malay can express this idea in more than one way.

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

Also, Malay nouns often do not change form for singular and plural.

So:

• bil can mean bill or bills
• the exact meaning depends on context

That is why tunggakan bil can be understood as:

• an overdue bill
• overdue bills
• bill arrears in general

Malay leaves this more open unless the context makes it specific.

It is not a straightforward active sentence like Someone cut the supply, and it is not a simple passive like The supply was cut either.

Instead, it uses a noun phrase plus berlaku:

• pemotongan bekalan = the disconnection of supply
• berlaku = occurs

So the style is impersonal and formal, which is very common in official Malay.

Yes, but it sounds formal, like something you would read in:

• utility notices
• warning letters
• official statements
• customer service messages

In everyday conversation, people might say something more direct, such as:

• Bekalan dipotong kerana bil tertunggak.
• The supply was cut because the bill was overdue.

Or even more casually:

• Bekalan kena potong sebab bil belum bayar.
• The supply got cut because the bill hasn’t been paid.

So your sentence is correct, but it belongs more to formal written Malay.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• Bekalan dipotong kerana tunggakan bil.
• Pemotongan bekalan disebabkan oleh tunggakan bil.
• Bekalan diputuskan kerana bil tertunggak.

These all express a similar idea, but the tone changes slightly:

• berlaku version = formal and neutral
• dipotong version = more direct
• disebabkan oleh version = very formal
• bil tertunggak focuses on the bill itself being overdue