Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya suka bila peraturan alam sekitar di bandar tidak terlalu ketat tetapi masih jelas. - I like it when environmental rules in the city are not too strict but still clear.

bila – informal / neutral, very common in speech and casual writing.
apabila – more formal and slightly more “bookish”; preferred in formal writing (essays, news, official documents).
ketika – also “when”, but often used with a more specific time or situation, especially in narratives (like “at the time when…”).

You could say:

Saya suka apabila peraturan alam sekitar di bandar tidak terlalu ketat tetapi masih jelas.
This is perfectly correct and sounds a bit more formal.
Ketika is possible but less natural here; it’s more often used for past or specific-time situations, e.g. ketika saya kecil (when I was small).

Why is it peraturan alam sekitar, not alam sekitar peraturan?

Malay normally puts the head noun first, then its description or “of-phrase” after it.

peraturan = rules / regulations (head noun)
alam sekitar = the environment (describing what kind of rules)

So peraturan alam sekitar literally feels like “rules of the environment” → “environmental regulations”.
The order alam sekitar peraturan would be wrong; it would sound like “environment surroundings regulations” with no clear structure.

Do I need to make peraturan plural, like peraturan-peraturan alam sekitar?

You don’t need to. Malay often leaves plurals unmarked and lets context show plurality.

peraturan alam sekitar can mean “an environmental regulation” or “environmental regulations”, depending on context.
peraturan-peraturan alam sekitar is also correct, but it emphasizes the plurality (“many regulations”), and sounds a bit more formal or emphatic.

In everyday speech and neutral writing, peraturan alam sekitar (without repetition) is the most common choice.

Why is there no word like “is/are” (copula) before tidak terlalu ketat or masih jelas?

Malay usually does not use a separate verb like “to be” before adjectives. The adjective itself functions as the predicate.

So:

peraturan … tidak terlalu ketat ≈ “the regulations are not too strict”
(peraturan …) masih jelas ≈ “(the regulations) are still clear”

You don’t normally say peraturan itu adalah ketat in everyday speech. adalah is used in more specific structures (often before nouns, or for emphasis in formal writing), not as a general “is/are” before adjectives.

In tetapi masih jelas, why is there no subject like peraturan itu repeated?

Malay often drops the subject when it is already clear from the previous clause.

The full logical structure is:
… peraturan alam sekitar di bandar tidak terlalu ketat tetapi (peraturan itu) masih jelas.

Because peraturan alam sekitar di bandar is the subject of the first part, it is understood to continue as the subject of masih jelas, so Malay doesn’t repeat it. This kind of subject omission is very normal and natural.

What is the nuance of tidak terlalu ketat? How is it different from kurang ketat or tidak begitu ketat?

All three express “not very strict”, but with slightly different flavors:

tidak terlalu ketat – “not too strict”; neutral and quite common. Suggests a level that is acceptable, not excessive.
kurang ketat – “less strict” / “not strict enough”; can imply that you feel the strictness is a bit lacking, depending on context.
tidak begitu ketat – “not that strict”; softer and slightly more colloquial in feel, like “they’re not that strict, you know”.

In your sentence, tidak terlalu ketat nicely balances the idea of “not over-strict but still clear”.

Why is masih placed before jelas? Could I say jelas masih?

In Malay, adverbs like masih (“still”) usually come before the adjective or verb they modify.

masih jelas = still clear
masih muda = still young
masih belajar = still studying

jelas masih is not natural and would sound wrong. So the correct order is masih + adjective/verb.

What is the difference between tetapi and tapi? Which fits best here?

Both mean “but”, but they differ in formality:

tetapi – more formal or neutral; suitable for writing, speeches, and polite conversation.
tapi – informal, very common in casual spoken Malay and casual writing (chats, messages).

In your sentence:

… tidak terlalu ketat tetapi masih jelas. – good in both spoken and written Malay (neutral-to-formal).
… tidak terlalu ketat tapi masih jelas. – sounds more casual and conversational.

Grammatically, both are fine; it’s about the level of formality you want.

Why is it di bandar and not di dalam bandar? Is there a difference?

Both are possible, but di bandar is more common and usually sufficient.

di bandar = “in the city” / “in town”; standard, neutral.
di dalam bandar = more literally “inside the city”, sometimes used for emphasis on “inside the boundaries of the city”, but often sounds wordier or overly specific.

For general statements like “environmental regulations in the city”, di bandar is the natural choice.

Can I change the word order, like Saya suka bila di bandar peraturan alam sekitar tidak terlalu ketat…?

Yes, Malay word order is somewhat flexible, and Saya suka bila di bandar peraturan alam sekitar tidak terlalu ketat tetapi masih jelas is still understandable and grammatical.

However, the original:

… bila peraturan alam sekitar di bandar tidak terlalu ketat …

sounds smoother and more natural because the whole noun phrase peraturan alam sekitar di bandar stays together. Moving di bandar earlier is possible but slightly less natural in everyday usage.

Could I replace bila with kalau here?

You might hear something like:

Saya suka kalau peraturan alam sekitar di bandar tidak terlalu ketat tetapi masih jelas.

In everyday speech, kalau can sometimes overlap with bila, but strictly speaking:

bila / apabila focus on time → “when”.
kalau focuses on condition → “if”.

So kalau makes the sentence sound more conditional (“I like it if the regulations are not too strict…”). bila (or apabila) keeps the meaning temporal (“I like it when …”), which matches the original meaning better.