Learn Hardcore Malay: Pengurus baru di pejabat menggalakkan kerjasama antara semua pekerja. - The new manager at the office encourages cooperation among all employees.

di pejabat = “at the office / in the office”
It marks a location, similar to English “at” in “the new manager at the office”.
You use di before place nouns: di sekolah (at school), di rumah (at home), di Malaysia (in Malaysia).

So “Pengurus baru di pejabat …” describes which manager: the one at the office (as opposed to, for example, a manager in a different branch).

Could we say “dalam pejabat” instead of “di pejabat”? What’s the difference?

You can say dalam pejabat, but there is a nuance:

di pejabat
- Neutral, very common.
- Means “at the office / in the office” in a general sense (as a workplace or location).
dalam pejabat
- Literally “inside the office”, with more focus on the interior of the office (inside the room or building).
- Used more when you’re emphasizing being physically inside the space.

In this sentence, di pejabat is more natural because we are talking about the manager of that office in a general workplace sense, not necessarily about someone standing physically inside a room.

Why is it “pengurus baru” and not “baru pengurus”?

In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

pengurus = manager
baru = new
pengurus baru = new manager

Putting baru before the noun (baru pengurus) is incorrect in standard Malay.

Some other examples:

kereta merah (red car), not merah kereta
rumah besar (big house), not besar rumah

What is the structure and meaning of “menggalakkan”?

Menggalakkan is a verb meaning “to encourage / to promote (something)”.

Morphology:

Root: galak
- Basic meaning: enthusiastic, spirited; eager; lively
Prefix meN-
- root galak
  - suffix -kan → menggalakkan

Function:

meN-…-kan often makes a transitive verb meaning “to make/cause something to be [root meaning]” or “do [root] to something”.
So menggalakkan kerjasama = to encourage/promote cooperation.

Example:

Kerajaan menggalakkan penggunaan basikal.
The government encourages the use of bicycles.

What’s the difference between “menggalakkan”, “menggalak”, and “galakkan”?

You’ll mainly use menggalakkan and galakkan:

menggalakkan (verb)
- Full verb form: “to encourage / to promote”
- Used in sentences with a subject:
  - Pengurus baru menggalakkan kerjasama.
    The new manager encourages cooperation.
galakkan (noun; sometimes verb in informal contexts)
- Noun: “encouragement / support”
  - Dia perlukan galakkan daripada keluarga.
    He needs encouragement from his family.
- In speech, some may use it as a shortened verb, but menggalakkan is the standard verbal form.
menggalak
- Grammatically possible, but not the common form used with galak in standard Malay.
- For “encourage / promote”, you should stick with menggalakkan.

What does “kerjasama” literally mean, and why is it written as one word?

Kerjasama means “cooperation / collaboration / teamwork.”

Literally:

kerja = work
sama = same / together / with

Originally it comes from the phrase kerja sama = work together, but in modern standard Malay it is treated as a single noun:

kerjasama (one word) = cooperation (the concept)

Writing:

kerja sama (two words) as a verb phrase “work together” is also seen, but kerjasama (one word) as a noun is very common and standard in this type of sentence.

What does “antara semua pekerja” mean exactly, and how does it work grammatically?

Antara semua pekerja means “among all (the) employees.”

Breakdown:

antara = between / among
semua = all
pekerja = worker / employee

Function:

antara takes a plural or collective noun:
- antara kawan-kawan = among friends
- antara ahli keluarga = among family members
Here, “kerjasama antara semua pekerja” is “cooperation among all employees”.

So the structure is:

kerjasama (cooperation)
antara (among)
semua pekerja (all employees)

Could we say “di kalangan semua pekerja” instead of “antara semua pekerja”?

Yes, you could say:

kerjasama di kalangan semua pekerja
= cooperation among all employees

Nuance:

antara is concise and very common.
di kalangan literally means “in the group of / among” and is also widely used, sometimes slightly more formal or wordy.

Both are acceptable. In this sentence, antara is already natural and clear, so “antara semua pekerja” is perfectly fine.

How do we know “pekerja” means “employees” (plural) and not just “employee” (singular)?

Malay usually does not add a special ending to show plural. The noun pekerja can mean “worker/employee” or “workers/employees”.

The plural meaning is shown by:

Context, or
A word like semua (all), banyak (many), ramai (many, for people), etc.

In this sentence:

semua pekerja = all employees
→ semua clearly makes it plural.

Why is there no word for “the” in “Pengurus baru di pejabat …”?

Malay doesn’t have direct equivalents of English “the” or “a/an”.

pengurus baru can mean:
- “the new manager”, or
- “a new manager”, depending on context.

Definiteness (the vs a) is usually understood from:

Context
Additional words like:
- itu (that) to make it definite:
  - Pengurus baru itu = that new manager / the new manager (that we know about)

In normal conversation, pengurus baru di pejabat will usually be understood as “the new manager at the office” if both speakers know which manager is being discussed.

Is the sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it sound natural in everyday speech?

The sentence is neutral and standard, suitable for:

Everyday speech at work
Written communication (emails, memos)
More formal contexts (reports, articles)

Words like:

pengurus (manager)
menggalakkan (encourages)
kerjasama (cooperation)
pekerja (employees)

are all neutral-formal vocabulary and very natural in a workplace context.

Could this sentence be reordered, for example “Di pejabat, pengurus baru menggalakkan kerjasama antara semua pekerja”? Is that still correct?

Yes, that reordered version is correct and natural:

Di pejabat, pengurus baru menggalakkan kerjasama antara semua pekerja.

Difference:

Original: Pengurus baru di pejabat menggalakkan …
- Focuses first on which manager (the new manager at the office).
Reordered: Di pejabat, pengurus baru menggalakkan …
- Starts by setting the place (“At the office”), then tells what the new manager does.

Both are grammatical; the choice depends on what you want to emphasize first: the manager or the location.