Learn Hardcore Malay: Malam itu, jurulatih kem bermain dram kecil di depan unggun api. - That night, the camp coach plays a small drum in front of the campfire.

Malam itu (without pada) is very common and natural in narrative/storytelling.
Pada malam itu is slightly more formal or explicit, because pada is a preposition meaning “on/at (time)”.

In practice, for time expressions like days, nights, years, etc., Malay often drops pada:
Malam itu, Hari Ahad, Tahun lalu, etc.

How do we know this sentence is in the past if there is no past tense verb form?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense (past, present, future). The verb bermain can mean:

played
is playing
will play

You know it’s past because of the time expression:

Malam itu = that night → this strongly suggests a past event in a story.

If you really wanted to mark past more explicitly, you could add words like:

telah bermain – has played / played
sudah bermain – already played

But in normal Malay, context and time phrases (like malam itu, semalam, tadi) usually do all the tense work.

What exactly does jurulatih kem mean, and why is the word order like that?

jurulatih kem literally means “camp coach/trainer” or “camp instructor.”

jurulatih = coach / trainer / instructor
kem = camp

Malay commonly forms noun–noun compounds where:

First noun: the main thing/person
Second noun: the type / field / place associated with it

So:

jurulatih kem = a coach of a camp (a coach working at/for the camp)
guru sekolah = school teacher
jurulatih bola sepak = football coach

The English “camp coach” matches the same order, but note the structure is actually “coach (of) camp” in Malay thinking.

Can I say jurulatih kem itu? What would that change?

Yes, you can say jurulatih kem itu, and it is perfectly correct.

jurulatih kem = a/the camp coach (generic, context-dependent)
jurulatih kem itu = that camp coach or the (specific) camp coach

Adding itu makes it definite and specific, usually someone already known to the listener or previously mentioned in the story.

So:

Malam itu, jurulatih kem bermain dram kecil…
→ “That night, a/the camp coach played a small drum…”
Malam itu, jurulatih kem itu bermain dram kecil…
→ “That night, that particular camp coach played a small drum…”

What does bermain mean here, and how is it different from main?

bermain is the standard/formal verb meaning “to play.” It can mean:

to play a game: bermain bola – to play ball
to play around: bermain di taman – to play in the park
to play an instrument: bermain gitar – to play the guitar

main (without ber-) is:

the base root of the verb
very common in informal / colloquial speech

Compare:

Formal / standard: Dia sedang bermain dram.
Informal speech: Dia tengah main dram.

In a written sentence like yours (which feels like narrative text), bermain is the more natural, standard choice.

Is bermain really used for musical instruments, or is there a different verb?

Yes, bermain is normally used with musical instruments in Malay. Examples:

bermain piano – to play the piano
bermain gitar – to play the guitar
bermain dram – to play the drum

You might also see memainkan in some contexts:

Dia memainkan gitar itu dengan hebat.
“He/She played that guitar wonderfully.”

Very roughly:

bermain + instrument = “to play (an instrument)” – the common, neutral phrasing
memainkan + object can focus more on what is being played or be more literary/formal

In your sentence, bermain dram kecil is completely natural and correct.

Why is it dram kecil and not kecil dram? Where do adjectives go in Malay?

In Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun.

dram kecil = small drum
rumah besar = big house
baju merah = red shirt

So the pattern is: [noun] + [adjective].

kecil dram would sound wrong or very unnatural.

Also note: Malay doesn’t use articles like a or the, so dram kecil alone can mean “a small drum” or “the small drum” depending on context.

Do we need a classifier like sebuah in dram kecil?

You can add a classifier, but you don’t have to.

dram kecil – a small drum / the small drum
sebuah dram kecil – one small drum / a small drum (more explicitly “one (unit) small drum”)

sebuah is a common classifier for many countable objects (houses, cars, books, etc.).

In natural narrative, it’s very common to omit the classifier unless you really want to emphasize the number:

jurulatih kem bermain dram kecil – sounds perfectly fine and natural.
jurulatih kem bermain sebuah dram kecil – still correct, just adds a hint of “one small drum” or is slightly more formal/descriptive.

What does di depan mean here, and how is it different from di hadapan?

di depan means “in front (of)”.

di = at / in / on (location preposition)
depan = front

So:

di depan unggun api = in front of the campfire / bonfire

di hadapan also means “in front (of)” and is often a bit more formal or used in writing/speeches.

You could say:

di depan unggun api – very common, neutral
di hadapan unggun api – also correct, slightly more formal/“bookish”

Both are acceptable in this sentence without changing the basic meaning.

What exactly is unggul api and how is it different from just api?

The phrase in your sentence is unggᴜn api (with n), not unggul.

unggun api roughly = “campfire / bonfire”
(literally, something like “a pile/heap of fire/wood that is burning”)
api alone just means fire.

So:

di depan api
→ in front of the fire (any fire, very general)
di depan unggun api
→ in front of a campfire/bonfire (the typical big fire people sit around, e.g. at a camp)

For camping / scouts / outdoor storytelling, unggᴜn api is the normal expression.

Can Malam itu go at the end of the sentence, and is the comma necessary?

You can move Malam itu around, but putting it at the beginning is the most natural in narrative.

Possible orders:

Malam itu, jurulatih kem bermain dram kecil di depan unggun api.
Jurulatih kem bermain dram kecil di depan unggun api malam itu.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing.

About the comma:

A comma after Malam itu is normal because it’s a fronted time phrase.
In casual writing, some people might omit it: Malam itu jurulatih kem bermain…, but the version with a comma is clearer and more standard.

So the original placement and punctuation are both natural and correct.