Learn Hardcore Malay: Tujuan utama hidup saya adalah untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan. - The main purpose of my life is to take care of my family and health.

So the structure is roughly:
Tujuan utama hidup saya – The main goal (of) my life
adalah untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan – is to take care of (my) family and (my) health.

Malay often omits possessive words like my if the meaning is clear from context, which is why you don’t see saya repeated before keluarga and kesihatan.

Why is “hidup saya” used instead of “kehidupan saya” for “my life”? Is there a difference?

Both are understandable, but there is a nuance:

hidup saya – literally my life / my living.
- Very common, sounds natural and everyday.
kehidupan saya – also my life, but with a slightly more formal or abstract feel.
- kehidupan is a noun formed with the prefix ke-…-an, often making it sound more like “life as a concept/condition”.

In this sentence, “Tujuan utama hidup saya…” is very natural and neutral.
You could say “Tujuan utama kehidupan saya…” to sound a bit more formal or reflective, but many speakers would still just prefer hidup saya.

Is “adalah” necessary here, or can I just say “Tujuan utama hidup saya untuk menjaga…”?

“adalah” is not strictly necessary. Both are grammatically possible, but they differ in style:

With “adalah”
- Tujuan utama hidup saya adalah untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan.
- Feels more formal / careful, good in writing, speeches, essays.
Without “adalah”
- Tujuan utama hidup saya untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan.
- Still acceptable, a bit more casual or spoken in feel, though some speakers might consider the version with adalah more complete in careful writing.

In many sentences where English uses “is”, Malay may either:

use adalah, or
omit it entirely, especially in informal speech.

Why do we need “untuk” before “menjaga”? Could I say “…adalah menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan”?

In this structure, “untuk” works like English “to” in “to take care of…” and links the purpose to the verb:

adalah untuk menjaga… → is to take care of…

You can sometimes see “adalah menjaga…”, but:

“adalah untuk + verb” is a very common pattern when expressing purpose or function:
- Tugas saya adalah untuk membantu pelanggan. – My duty is to help customers.
- Peranan guru adalah untuk mendidik murid. – The role of teachers is to educate students.
“adalah + verb (bare)” tends to feel more like a definition / identity, not purpose:
- Kerja saya adalah mengajar. – My job is teaching. (identity of the job)

In your sentence, we are clearly talking about purpose, so “adalah untuk menjaga” is the most natural and clear.

What does “menjaga” exactly mean here? Does it only mean “to take care of”?

Menjaga is quite flexible. Some common meanings:

To take care of / look after / care for
- menjaga anak – to look after a child
- menjaga orang tua – to take care of elderly parents
To guard / watch over / protect
- menjaga pintu – to guard the door
- menjaga keselamatan – to maintain safety
To maintain / keep (something in a good state)
- menjaga kebersihan – to maintain cleanliness
- menjaga kesihatan – to maintain health / stay healthy

In “menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan”, it combines the ideas:

menjaga keluarga – caring for / looking after your family (emotionally, financially, etc.)
menjaga kesihatan – maintaining your health, taking care of your health.

Why is it just “keluarga” and “kesihatan”? Shouldn’t it be “keluarga saya” and “kesihatan saya” to mean “my family and my health”?

In Malay, possessive pronouns (like saya, awak, dia) are often omitted when the meaning is obvious from context.

Here:

We already have “hidup saya” – my life.
It is natural to understand that the family and health being talked about are also the speaker’s.

So saying “keluarga dan kesihatan” is enough; listeners will understand it as my family and (my) health.

You can say:

“…menjaga keluarga saya dan kesihatan saya.”

This is grammatically correct but sounds a bit heavy and repetitive. More natural are:

“…menjaga keluarga saya dan kesihatan saya.” (formal, emphasises possession), or
“…menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan saya.” (repeat saya only once at the end), or
the original: “…menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan.” (most natural and smooth).

What’s the difference between “kesihatan” and “sihat”? Why use “kesihatan” here?

sihat – an adjective: healthy
- Saya sihat. – I am healthy.
- makanan sihat – healthy food
kesihatan – a noun: health (the concept/condition)
- kesihatan saya – my health
- menjaga kesihatan – to take care of (one’s) health

In your sentence, we need a noun that pairs with keluarga:

keluarga (family) and kesihatan (health)

So “kesihatan” is the correct choice.
Saying “menjaga keluarga dan sihat” would be ungrammatical, like saying “to take care of my family and healthy” in English.

Why is “utama” placed after “tujuan”? Could you say “utama tujuan hidup saya”?

In Malay, most adjectives come after the noun:

rumah besar – big house
kawan baik – good friend
tujuan utama – main goal

So:

tujuan utama = main goal
utama tujuan would sound odd or wrong in standard Malay.

Correct pattern:
tujuan (noun) + utama (adjective)

So “Tujuan utama hidup saya…” is the correct and natural order.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it sound strange in casual conversation?

“Tujuan utama hidup saya adalah untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan.” is:

Grammatically correct
Neutral to slightly formal in tone
- Because of adalah and the rather reflective content (“the main purpose of my life”).

In casual conversation, many speakers might still say it exactly like this, especially if they are being serious. A more casual variation could be:

Matlamat utama hidup saya ialah jaga keluarga dan kesihatan.
- Drops untuk, uses jaga (colloquial, without meN-), and ialah instead of adalah (still quite standard though).

But your original sentence is entirely fine and natural in both speech and writing, especially when talking about personal values.

Can I change the word order, like “Tujuan utama saya dalam hidup adalah…”? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can rearrange it slightly while keeping the same meaning. Examples:

Tujuan utama hidup saya adalah untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan.
- The main purpose of my life is to take care of my family and health.
Tujuan utama saya dalam hidup adalah untuk menjaga keluarga dan kesihatan.
- Literally: My main purpose in life is to take care of my family and health.

Both are natural and the meaning is effectively the same.
Nuance:

hidup saya – my life (as a whole)
saya dalam hidup – me in (this) life / my main goal in life

These are stylistic variations rather than big meaning changes.

Why use “saya” here and not “aku”? Would “Tujuan utama hidup aku…” be wrong?

saya and aku both mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and context:

saya
- Polite, neutral
- Used in formal situations, with strangers, with elders, in writing, etc.
aku
- Informal, intimate
- Used with close friends, family, or in casual contexts.

So:

Tujuan utama hidup saya adalah… – polite/neutral, suitable almost everywhere.
Tujuan utama hidup aku adalah… – very casual, okay among close friends, in diaries, songs, etc.

Grammatically, “Tujuan utama hidup aku…” is fine; it just changes the social tone. For learners, saya is the safest default.

Could I replace “tujuan” with “matlamat”? Are they the same?

tujuan and matlamat are very close in meaning, but with slight differences in common usage:

tujuan – purpose, aim, intention (often more general, can be abstract)
- tujuan hidup – life purpose
- tujuan surat ini – the purpose of this letter
matlamat – goal, target, objective (often sounds a bit more concrete or planned)
- matlamat jangka panjang – long-term goal
- mencapai matlamat – to achieve a goal

In your sentence:

Tujuan utama hidup saya… – very natural, common wording.
Matlamat utama hidup saya… – also understandable; may sound a little more like a “goal/objective” than an almost spiritual “purpose”, but many people would still use it.

Both are possible; tujuan hidup is slightly more standard as a phrase about life purpose.