Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya rasa perbincangan yang bebas dan adil penting untuk hak semua orang dalam masyarakat. - I feel that free and fair discussion is important for everyone’s rights in a society.

rasa literally means “feel”, but it’s very commonly used for opinions, especially when there’s a sense of personal feeling or judgement.
- Saya rasa… ≈ I feel / I think… (quite natural and common)
fikir is more literally “to think (intellectually)”, often used for more deliberate or analytical thinking.
- Saya fikir… ≈ I think (after considering)…

In this sentence, Saya rasa perbincangan… penting…, using rasa sounds very natural and typical when giving a personal stance or opinion. Saya fikir… would also be grammatically correct, just a bit more “cerebral” in tone.

Why is there no word like “is” (e.g. adalah) between perbincangan… and penting?

Malay often omits a copula (like English “is/are”) when linking a noun to an adjective.

English: Discussion is important.
Malay: Perbincangan penting. (no “is”)

Adalah can be used, but mainly:

before nouns or noun phrases:
- Perbincangan itu adalah tanggungjawab kita.
  That discussion is our responsibility.
with a more formal, written, or emphatic tone.

In your sentence:

perbincangan yang bebas dan adil penting…
The adjective penting directly follows the noun phrase, so adalah is not needed.
You could say …adalah penting… in very formal writing, but in speech and normal writing, omitting it is more natural.

What is the function of yang in perbincangan yang bebas dan adil?

Yang is a relative marker that connects a noun to a description (like “that/which” in English).

perbincangan = discussion
yang bebas dan adil = that is free and fair

So perbincangan yang bebas dan adil literally is:

“discussion that is free and fair”

In Malay, adjectives can come directly after a noun (perbincangan bebas), but yang is added when:

the description is longer or more specific
you want to emphasize a defining characteristic
it functions like a relative clause

Compare:

perbincangan bebas – free discussion (simple modifier)
perbincangan yang bebas dan adil – the discussion which is free and fair (more defined and specific)

Could it be “perbincangan bebas dan adil” without yang? What changes?

Yes, perbincangan bebas dan adil is grammatically possible, but the nuance shifts slightly:

perbincangan bebas dan adil (no yang)
Sounds more like a compact noun phrase: “free and fair discussion(s)”—treating bebas dan adil as simple adjectives.
perbincangan yang bebas dan adil
Feels a bit more specific and emphasized: “discussion that is free and fair”, highlighting bebas and adil as important defining qualities.

Both are acceptable. Using yang is very natural here because the phrase is part of a more formal, conceptual statement.

Why is it penting untuk hak semua orang, not something like baik untuk hak semua orang?

Penting means “important”, and this sentence is making a statement about importance, not just being “good”.

penting untuk hak semua orang
= important for everyone’s rights
baik untuk hak semua orang
= good for everyone’s rights (sounds weaker and less precise in this context)

The idea in the sentence is that free and fair discussion is necessary / crucial for rights, not merely beneficial. Hence penting fits better.

What does untuk really mean here, and could we use bagi or demi instead?

Untuk is a preposition that commonly means “for” (purpose or benefit).

penting untuk hak semua orang
≈ important for the rights of everyone

Alternatives:

bagi – also “for”, often slightly more formal or written:
- penting bagi hak semua orang – acceptable, sounds a bit more formal/official.
demi – “for the sake of”:
- penting demi hak semua orang – more emotional or rhetorical, stressing sacrifice or noble purpose.

In neutral, standard speech, untuk is the most straightforward and natural choice.

Why is it hak semua orang and not hak-hak semua orang?

Malay doesn’t need to mark plural explicitly the way English does. Plurality is often understood from context or from words like semua (all).

hak = right / rights (singular or plural depending on context)
semua orang = everyone / all people

So:

hak semua orang already clearly means “everyone’s rights”.

You can say hak-hak semua orang, but:

hak-hak adds emphasis on multiple individual rights
it sounds more formal or legalistic

For a natural general statement, hak semua orang is preferred.

Why is it semua orang instead of orang ramai?

Both can translate as something like “everyone / the public”, but they’re used slightly differently:

semua orang = all people / everyone
Stresses every individual person.
orang ramai = the public / the crowd / the masses
More like a collective group.

In the context of rights, the focus is on each person’s rights, so:

hak semua orang = rights of every person
is a more precise, rights-oriented phrasing than hak orang ramai.

Hak orang ramai would sound more like “the rights of the public” as a group, and is less commonly used in this abstract human-rights sense.

Why is dalam used in dalam masyarakat, and not di or kepada?

Dalam means “in/inside/within” and is used for being inside a non-physical context, like a system, group, or society.

dalam masyarakat = in/within society

Other prepositions:

di masyarakat – technically possible, but di is more for physical locations; here it sounds less natural.
kepada masyarakat = “to/for society” (direction/recipient), different meaning.
- e.g. penting kepada masyarakat = important to society (as a whole)
untuk masyarakat = for society (focusing on the benefit to society)

Your sentence:

…penting untuk hak semua orang dalam masyarakat.
Literally: important for the rights of everyone within society.

What is the difference between perbincangan and the base verb bincang?

bincang is a verb: to discuss
- Kita bincang nanti. – We’ll discuss (it) later.
perbincangan is a noun, formed with per‑…‑an:
- per‑ + bincang + ‑an → perbincangan = discussion / the act/process of discussing

So in your sentence:

perbincangan is needed because the English equivalent is a noun (“discussion”), not a verb.

Could the word order be Saya rasa penting perbincangan yang bebas dan adil…? Is that correct?

This alternative word order is not natural in this case.

The usual and clear pattern is:

[subject] + [verb of thinking] + [topic] + [adjective]
Saya rasa perbincangan yang bebas dan adil penting.

If you say:

Saya rasa penting perbincangan yang bebas dan adil…
it sounds awkward and slightly confusing, as if “penting” is floating before we know what is important.

Malay doesn’t front adjectives like this as freely as English (“I think important discussions that are free and fair are…”). Keep penting directly after the noun phrase it describes, or after the full clause.

Could we add bahawa after Saya rasa, like Saya rasa bahawa perbincangan…? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Saya rasa bahawa perbincangan yang bebas dan adil penting…

Bahawa ≈ “that” (as a conjunction, not a demonstrative).

Difference:

without bahawa:
Saya rasa perbincangan… penting… – completely natural in speech and writing.
with bahawa:
Saya rasa bahawa… – more formal, explicit, and slightly heavier, often used in formal writing, speeches, essays.

The meaning is the same; bahawa just makes the structure more explicitly “I think that…”.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? How might I say this more casually?

The given sentence is fairly neutral, leaning slightly formal because of words like perbincangan, masyarakat, and the abstract, political topic.

To make it more casual in everyday conversation, you might say something like:

Saya rasa bincang secara bebas dan adil itu penting untuk hak semua orang.
(using bincang and secara bebas dan adil sounds a bit more conversational)

Or even shorter, if context is clear:

Saya rasa penting kita boleh bincang dengan bebas dan adil.
I think it’s important that we can discuss things freely and fairly.

The original sentence, though, is perfectly fine in general conversation, especially when talking about serious topics like rights and society.