Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya minta izin untuk keluar sekejap beli air. - I ask for permission to go out for a moment to buy a drink.

meminta izin – more formal, closer to the full dictionary form (with the meN- prefix). You would see this in writing, speeches, or more formal situations.
minta izin – very common in everyday spoken Malaysian Malay. The meN- prefix is often dropped in casual speech.

In a classroom or office in Malaysia, Saya minta izin… sounds natural and polite. If you were writing a formal letter, you might prefer Saya meminta izin… instead.

What does izin mean exactly? Is it the same as “permission”?

Yes. izin means permission.

minta izin = to ask for permission
tanpa izin = without permission

There is also kebenaran, which can also mean permission or authorization, but izin is very common in this everyday phrase.

What is the function of untuk in this sentence? Could I leave it out?

untuk means for / in order to. It links the request with the purpose:

Saya minta izin untuk keluar…
= I ask permission to go out…

You can sometimes hear this sentence without untuk:

Saya minta izin keluar sekejap beli air.

In casual speech, Malaysians often drop untuk when the meaning is obvious. However, including untuk makes the sentence clearer and a bit more careful, so for learners it’s good to keep it.

Why is it keluar sekejap and not sekejap keluar? Does word order matter?

The usual, natural order is:

Verb + sekejap → keluar sekejap = go out for a short while

sekejap acts like an adverb of time (for a moment / briefly) and normally comes after the verb in Malay.

sekejap keluar is not the usual way to say this. You might see sekejap at the beginning of a sentence in other structures, e.g.:

Sekejap, ya. = Wait a moment / Just a moment.

But in your sentence, keluar sekejap is the correct and natural order.

What exactly does sekejap mean? Is it the same as sebentar?

sekejap means for a short while, briefly, for a moment.

sekejap – very common in Malaysian Malay, informal to neutral.
sebentar – more common in Indonesian, but also understood in Malaysia and sounds a bit more formal or literary there.

In your sentence, keluar sekejap sounds natural and polite in Malaysian everyday speech. keluar sebentar would still be correct but feels slightly more formal and more Indonesian-flavoured.

Why is it beli air and not membeli air? When do I use the meN- form?

Both are grammatically correct:

beli air – base verb, very common in informal/neutral speech.
membeli air – with meN- prefix, more formal / careful.

In spoken Malaysian Malay, it’s very normal to use base verbs (without meN-) especially after other verbs or modals, e.g.:

nak beli air (want to buy a drink)
boleh pergi beli air (can go buy a drink)

In formal writing or exams, you’re more likely to see membeli air. For everyday speech, beli air is perfectly natural.

Why is there no untuk before beli air? Is keluar sekejap beli air two separate actions?

Malay often strings actions together without repeating connectors like untuk or pronouns. Here:

keluar sekejap beli air

is understood as:

keluar sekejap untuk beli air
(go out for a while to buy a drink)

The second verb phrase beli air is interpreted as the purpose of keluar sekejap. Native speakers easily infer the relationship from context, so they don’t feel the need to add another untuk. For learners, you can think of it as:

I ask permission to go out briefly (in order) to buy a drink.

Why don’t we repeat saya before keluar or beli? Should it be untuk saya keluar?

You could say:

Saya minta izin untuk saya keluar sekejap beli air.

but this sounds wordy and unnatural.

In Malay, when the subject stays the same, it’s usually mentioned only once at the start and then left out in following verb phrases. So:

Saya minta izin (I ask permission)
(saya) keluar sekejap (to go out for a bit)
(saya) beli air (to buy a drink)

All three actions share the same subject saya, so it is understood and doesn’t need to be repeated.

Does air mean “water” or “a drink”? How do I know?

Literally, air means water.

However, in context, beli air in Malaysian everyday speech often means:

buy a drink (could be bottled water, a soft drink, etc.)

If you specifically want “a drink” (not necessarily water), people still commonly say beli air. If they want to be explicit:

beli air mineral = buy mineral water
beli minuman = buy a drink (more formal/general)

Here, beli air would naturally be understood as “go buy a drink” rather than “go buy (plain) water” unless the situation clearly suggests otherwise.

Is this sentence polite enough to say to a teacher or boss?

Yes, in Malaysia this is polite and normal, especially in speech:

Saya minta izin untuk keluar sekejap beli air.

It shows:

use of Saya (formal “I”)
the phrase minta izin (asking permission)
explaining the reason (to go out briefly to buy a drink)

If you want to sound even more formal or extra polite, you could say:

Cikgu, saya minta izin untuk keluar sekejap untuk membeli air.
Bos, saya minta izin keluar sekejap untuk membeli minuman.

But your original sentence is already acceptable and polite in most casual–semi-formal situations.

There is no past or future tense here. How do I know if this means “I’m asking” or “I asked”?

Malay verbs generally don’t change form for tense. minta, keluar, beli are all “bare” forms. Time is understood from context or added words.

In this sentence, because you’re speaking while you are asking, it means:

I am asking for permission to go out for a bit to buy a drink.

If you wanted to talk about the past, you might add a time word:

Tadi saya minta izin untuk keluar sekejap beli air.
= Earlier I asked for permission…

For future, you could use akan or a time expression:

Nanti saya akan minta izin untuk keluar sekejap beli air.
= Later I will ask for permission…

Is sekejap the same as saying “just a second” in English? Is it always very short?

sekejap means “for a short while”, but it’s flexible and depends on context. It roughly suggests:

not very long
within a reasonable time

It could be a minute, a few minutes, or even longer, depending on the situation. Like English “just a minute”, it can be a bit vague. In your sentence, people would expect you to be back fairly soon, not an hour later.

Is this sentence more Malaysian or Indonesian? Would Indonesians say it the same way?

The sentence is very natural Malaysian Malay. An Indonesian would understand it, but they’d more likely say something like:

Saya minta izin keluar sebentar untuk membeli minum.
(using sebentar, membeli, and minum instead of sekejap, beli, and air)

Key differences:

sekejap (Malaysia) ↔ sebentar (Indonesia)
beli is used in both, but Indonesians might choose the more formal membeli in careful speech.
beli minum or beli minuman is more typical in Indonesian; beli air is very common in Malaysia.

So your original sentence clearly sounds Malaysian.