Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya pernah melihat salji cair pada awal musim bunga di sana. - I once saw snow melting at the beginning of spring there.

Without pernah, Saya melihat salji cair… sounds more like a simple past description (I saw melting snow…), not clearly about life experience.

So:

Saya melihat salji cair… = I saw melting snow… (just saying it happened)
Saya pernah melihat salji cair… = I have seen melting snow (at least once in my life)

What is the role of the me- prefix in melihat compared to the root lihat?

The root verb is lihat (to see).

Melihat = meN- + lihat, which usually makes an active verb (similar to a normal finite verb in English).

You’ll commonly see:

Saya melihat… = I see / I saw / I am seeing…
Jangan lihat. = Don’t look. (imperative with the root form)
Dia sedang melihat TV. = He/She is watching TV.

In everyday speech, people often say:

Saya nampak salji cair… (I saw melting snow…)
where nampak is more like to see / to notice (very common and natural).

But melihat is more neutral/formal and perfectly correct in all contexts.

How should I understand salji cair? Is it “melting snow” or “melted snow,” and why is the order like that?

Salji = snow
Cair = melted / to melt / liquid

In Malay, describing words usually come after the noun:

salji cair = literally snow melted → melted snow or melting snow, depending on context.

It can cover both ideas:

snow that is in the process of melting,
or snow that has already melted to a slushy, watery state.

If you want to be more explicit, you can say:

salji yang sedang cair = snow that is currently melting
salji yang telah cair = snow that has already melted

But in most cases, salji cair is natural and clear from context.

Why do we use pada in pada awal musim bunga? Could I just say awal musim bunga?

Pada is a preposition often used for points in time, similar to "on/at" in English.

pada awal musim bunga ≈ at the beginning of spring

In formal or careful Malay, you normally include pada before time phrases:

pada pukul tiga = at three o’clock
pada hari Isnin = on Monday
pada masa itu = at that time

In casual speech, Malaysians often drop pada, so you may hear:

awal musim bunga without pada

Both are understandable, but:

pada awal musim bunga = more standard/formal
awal musim bunga = more casual/spoken

Malaysia doesn’t really have spring, so when would people use musim bunga?

You’re right that Malaysia has a tropical climate and doesn’t actually have four distinct seasons like spring, summer, autumn, winter.

However, Malay still uses:

musim bunga = spring
musim panas = summer
musim luruh = autumn/fall
musim sejuk = winter

These are used when talking about:

countries with four seasons (e.g. Japan, Korea, Europe),
school subjects (geography, science),
or when Malaysians travel abroad.

So pada awal musim bunga di sana implies in that other place (there) which has spring, not in Malaysia itself.

What’s the difference between di sana, di situ, and di sini?

All three mean a kind of here/there:

di sini = here, near the speaker
di situ = there, closer to the listener or in shared visible space
di sana = over there, far from both speaker and listener (or in another country/place)

In this sentence, di sana suggests:

a place that is not here, and usually quite far away (often another country/region).

If you say:

Saya pernah melihat salji cair di sana.
→ “I have seen melting snow there (in that far-away place).”

Why use Saya and not Aku here? What’s the difference?

Both mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and social distance:

Saya
- Polite, neutral
- Used in most situations: with strangers, at work, with older people, in writing
- Safe default choice
Aku
- Casual, intimate
- Used with close friends, siblings, or in some song lyrics / literature
- Can sound rude or too familiar if used with someone you don’t know well

So:

Saya pernah melihat salji cair… is polite and standard.
Aku pernah melihat salji cair… is more intimate/colloquial, depending on who you’re talking to.

Could I say Saya sudah melihat salji cair… instead of pernah? What’s the nuance difference?

Sudah and pernah are not the same:

sudah = already (focus on completion)
pernah = have ever (focus on experience at least once)

Compare:

Saya sudah melihat salji cair di sana.
→ I have already seen melting snow there.
Emphasis: the action is done/finished.
Saya pernah melihat salji cair di sana.
→ I have at some point in my life seen melting snow there.
Emphasis: I have that experience.

If you are answering Have you ever seen melting snow there?, pernah is the natural choice:

Ya, saya pernah. = Yes, I have (ever).

Sudah is more about timing relative to now, pernah is about life experience.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move di sana or pada awal musim bunga to other positions?

Malay word order is quite flexible, especially with time and place phrases.

Your sentence:

Saya pernah melihat salji cair pada awal musim bunga di sana.

Other natural orders include:

Saya pernah melihat salji cair di sana pada awal musim bunga.
Pada awal musim bunga, saya pernah melihat salji cair di sana.
Di sana, saya pernah melihat salji cair pada awal musim bunga.

General tendencies:

Subject + verb + object comes first: Saya pernah melihat salji cair…
Time and place phrases usually come after, and can be swapped around.

All of those variants would still be understood and acceptable.

What would a more casual, everyday version of this sentence sound like in spoken Malay?

A common colloquial version might be:

Saya pernah nampak salji cair masa awal musim bunga kat sana.

Changes:

melihat → nampak (more everyday: to see / notice)
pada awal → masa awal (literally: during the beginning of)
di sana → kat sana (kat is a colloquial form of di used in speech)

Meaning stays the same, but the tone becomes more informal and conversational.