Learn Hardcore Malay: Pada pilihan raya akan datang, saya akan mengundi awal pagi. - At the coming election, I will vote early in the morning.

In this sentence, “pada” functions like “at / during / on the occasion of” and is used with events and more abstract time expressions.

Correct: Pada pilihan raya akan datang = “At / in the coming election”
Not natural here: Di pilihan raya akan datang ❌

General idea:

pada: used with dates, days, times, events
- pada hari Isnin (on Monday)
- pada pukul 8 (at 8 o’clock)
- pada mesyuarat itu (at that meeting)
di: used with physical locations
- di rumah (at home)
- di sekolah (at school)

So “pada pilihan raya akan datang” is the natural choice.

Why is “pilihan raya” written as two words? What does each part mean?

“Pilihan raya” is a two‑word phrase that together means “election”.

pilihan = choice, selection (from the root verb pilih = to choose)
raya = big, grand, major (you also see this in Hari Raya)

So literally it’s like “major choice” or “big choosing”, but as a fixed phrase it just means election.

You should normally write it as two words:

Correct: pilihan raya ✅
Incorrect: pilihanraya ❌ (you do see this informally, but it’s not standard)

There are two “akan” in the sentence. Is that correct, and what is each one doing?

Yes, it’s correct, and each “akan” is part of a different phrase:

pilihan raya akan datang
- Here “akan datang” means “that will come / upcoming”, so the whole phrase means “the coming election” or “the next election”.
saya akan mengundi
- Here “akan” works like “will” to mark future tense: “I will vote”.

So structurally:

Pada [pilihan raya akan datang], [saya akan mengundi awal pagi].
At / in the coming election, I will vote early in the morning.

Using “akan” twice sounds completely natural to native speakers.

Could I remove the first “akan” and say “Pada pilihan raya datang, saya akan mengundi awal pagi”?

No, that would sound ungrammatical or at least very odd.

Akan datang is a fixed and very common combination meaning “coming / upcoming”.
Just “datang” there doesn’t work as an adjective in standard Malay.

Correct options include:

Pada pilihan raya akan datang, saya akan mengundi awal pagi. ✅
Pada pilihan raya akan datang, saya akan mengundi awal-awal pagi. ✅ (more emphasis on “very early”)

But:

Pada pilihan raya datang, … ❌ (not natural)

What exactly does “awal pagi” mean? Is it like “early morning” or “early in the morning”?

“Awal pagi” literally is:

awal = early
pagi = morning

So “awal pagi” means “early morning” / “early in the morning”.

It normally implies sometime near the start of the morning (for example, around 6–8 a.m., but it’s contextual, not a fixed time). It’s quite close in meaning to English:

Saya akan mengundi awal pagi.
“I will vote early in the morning.”

Do I need a preposition like “pada” or “pada waktu” before “awal pagi”?

You can add it, but you don’t have to. All of these are grammatical:

Saya akan mengundi awal pagi. ✅
Saya akan mengundi pada awal pagi. ✅
Saya akan mengundi pada waktu pagi. ✅ (less specific: “in the morning”)
Saya akan mengundi pada awal waktu pagi. ✅ (very specific/formal)

In your original sentence, no preposition is needed because “awal pagi” functions like a simple time adverbial, similar to English:

“I will vote early morning / early in the morning.”

Could I say “saya akan awal pagi mengundi” instead of “saya akan mengundi awal pagi”?

That word order is not natural in Malay.

In Malay, the usual pattern is:

Subject + (tense/aspect) + Verb + Time

So:

Saya akan mengundi awal pagi. ✅
(I will vote early in the morning.)

Putting the time in the middle like:

Saya akan awal pagi mengundi. ❌

sounds wrong or at least very awkward. Put “awal pagi” either:

at the end: Saya akan mengundi awal pagi. ✅
or at the beginning: Awal pagi, saya akan mengundi. ✅ (more emphasis on “early morning”)

What is the level of formality of “saya akan mengundi”? Could I say “aku akan mengundi”?

saya is neutral and polite, suitable for almost all situations: talking in public, writing, speaking to strangers, etc.
aku is informal / intimate, usually used with close friends, family, or in certain regional speech styles.

Grammatically, both are fine:

Saya akan mengundi awal pagi. ✅ (polite/neutral)
Aku akan mengundi awal pagi. ✅ (informal/intimate)

For anything public or semi-formal (e.g. talking about elections), “saya” is the safer and more natural choice.

Is “mengundi” always “to vote”, or can it mean “to choose” in general?

“Mengundi” mainly means “to vote” (in an election, a meeting, or any formal voting process).

mengundi dalam pilihan raya = to vote in an election
mengundi calon A = vote for candidate A

For “to choose / select” in general, Malay usually uses “memilih” (from pilih = choose):

Saya memilih buku ini. = I choose this book.
Mereka memilih ketua baru. = They choose a new leader.

So:

mengundi → voting
memilih → choosing/selecting (more general)

Could “pada pilihan raya akan datang” be moved to the end of the sentence?

Yes, you can move that time/event phrase, and it will still be grammatical, though the emphasis changes slightly.

Original:

Pada pilihan raya akan datang, saya akan mengundi awal pagi.
→ Focuses first on the event (the coming election).

Alternative:

Saya akan mengundi awal pagi pada pilihan raya akan datang.
→ Sounds more neutral, like standard narrative order: subject–verb–time–event.

Both are correct and natural; Malay allows this kind of movement for time and event phrases.