Tukang paip kata paip lama itu menyebabkan air turun dari siling.

Because the two instances of paip do different jobs:

• tukang paip = plumber
• paip lama itu = that old pipe / the old pipe

So the first paip is part of a job title, while the second paip is the actual pipe being talked about.

Malay often forms occupations with tukang + noun, where tukang means a skilled worker or repair person.

Tukang paip means plumber.

A few useful points:

• tukang = a worker, repairer, craftsman, or someone skilled in a practical trade
• paip = pipe

So literally, tukang paip is something like pipe worker, but the normal English translation is plumber.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. So kata can mean:

• said
• says
• sometimes even was saying

The time is usually understood from context, or shown with time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• tadi = earlier
• sekarang = now

So in this sentence, kata is often translated as said, but says could also be possible in the right context.

Because in Malay, the equivalent of English that is often omitted after verbs like say.

So:

• Tukang paip kata paip lama itu menyebabkan...

naturally means:

• The plumber said (that) the old pipe caused...

This omission is very common and normal in everyday Malay.

If a speaker wants to be more explicit, they can sometimes use bahawa, but in ordinary conversation it often sounds formal:

• Tukang paip kata bahawa paip lama itu...

That is grammatical, but less casual.

In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• paip lama = old pipe
• rumah besar = big house
• kereta baru = new car

This is one of the big word-order differences from English.

Because in Malay, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come at the end of the noun phrase.

So:

• paip lama itu = that old pipe / the old pipe
• rumah besar itu = that big house
• buku baru ini = this new book

The order is typically:

noun + adjective + itu/ini

not:

• itu paip lama for that old pipe in this kind of structure

It can mean either, depending on context.

Itu literally points to something like that, but in many real sentences it can also function more like a definite marker, giving the sense of the.

So paip lama itu may be understood as:

• that old pipe
• the old pipe

Context decides which English translation sounds best.

Menyebabkan means to cause or causing.

It comes from the root sebab, which means cause or reason.

The word is built like this:

• sebab = cause, reason
• menyebabkan = to cause something

This is a very common Malay pattern where prefixes and suffixes are added to a root word to make a verb.

So in this sentence:

• paip lama itu menyebabkan air turun...
• the old pipe caused the water to come down...

Because air turun dari siling literally means water comes down from the ceiling, and that is a natural way to describe what is happening.

Malay often uses straightforward, physical descriptions like this.

• air = water
• turun = go down / come down / descend
• dari siling = from the ceiling

In English, we might prefer water was leaking from the ceiling, but Malay does not always need a specific verb like leak to express the idea clearly.

Usually yes, but its most natural English translation depends on context.

Turun can mean:

• go down
• come down
• descend
• fall
• decrease

In this sentence, air turun dari siling is best understood as:

• water came down from the ceiling
• or more naturally in English, water leaked from the ceiling

So the core meaning is downward movement, but the best translation changes with context.

In Malay, air means water, not air in the English sense.

This is a very important false friend for English speakers.

Examples:

• air panas = hot water
• air sejuk = cold water
• air hujan = rainwater

If you want to say air as in what we breathe, Malay usually uses:

• udara = air
• angin = wind, breeze, sometimes air in casual expressions

So in this sentence, air definitely means water.

Here, dari means from.

So:

• dari siling = from the ceiling

Yes, daripada can sometimes appear in places where English uses from, but in location or movement from a place, dari is the usual choice.

A simple way to remember it:

• dari is commonly used for place, direction, or origin
• daripada is often used for source, comparison, material, or giver

In this sentence, because the water is coming from a location, dari is the natural choice.

No. Malay sentences often have no explicit tense marker, and that is completely normal.

The sentence can be understood through context alone:

• Tukang paip kata... = The plumber said / says...
• menyebabkan... = caused / causes...

If needed, speakers can add time words, for example:

• Semalam tukang paip kata... = Yesterday the plumber said...
• Tadi tukang paip kata... = Earlier the plumber said...

But without those words, the sentence is still perfectly normal Malay.

Yes. Siling is the standard Malay word for ceiling.

So:

• dari siling = from the ceiling

It is a common everyday word and is exactly what you would expect in a sentence about a leak inside a building.