Polis datang ke rumah kami selepas jiran saya menelefon.

Malay does not use articles like a/an or the, so polis can naturally mean police or the police depending on context.

Also, Malay nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural. So polis does not need an -s ending. The context tells you that it refers to the police.

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. The same verb can refer to the present, past, or future, depending on context.

So:

• datang = come / came
• menelefon = call / called / calling

In this sentence, the sequence of events makes the past meaning clear:

• first the neighbor called
• then the police came

If needed, Malay can add time words such as semalam (yesterday) or markers like sudah (already) to make past time even clearer.

Ke usually means to, toward, or into a destination.

So:

• ke rumah kami = to our house

It is used before places and destinations:

• ke sekolah = to school
• ke bandar = to town
• ke rumah = home / to the house

In Malay, possessors usually come after the noun.

So:

• rumah kami = our house
• jiran saya = my neighbor

This is the normal word order in Malay:

• noun + possessor

Compare:

• kereta saya = my car
• buku dia = his/her book

Malay has an important distinction between two kinds of we:

• kami = we/us excluding the listener
• kita = we/us including the listener

So rumah kami means our house, but it does not include the person being spoken to.

That is why kami is the natural choice here unless the listener is one of the people living in the house.

They mean different possessors:

• jiran saya = my neighbor
• rumah kami = our house

So saya means I / me / my, while kami means we / us / our excluding the listener.

The sentence is saying that the speaker personally identifies the neighbor as my neighbor, but the house belongs to us.

Selepas means after.

In this sentence:

• selepas jiran saya menelefon = after my neighbor called

Yes, it can often be replaced by words such as:

• setelah
• sesudah

These are similar in meaning, though selepas is very common and natural in everyday Malay.

Menelefon is formed from the noun/root telefon with the verbal prefix meN-, which often creates an active verb.

With roots beginning in t-, the t is usually dropped after this prefix. So:

• telefon → menelefon

This means to telephone / to call.

So:

• jiran saya menelefon = my neighbor called

Malay often leaves out information that is understood from context.

So jiran saya menelefon literally means my neighbor called, without stating exactly whom they called. If the meaning has already been given to the learner, the missing object is probably understood from context.

If you wanted to be specific, you could say:

• jiran saya menelefon polis = my neighbor called the police
• jiran saya menelefon kami = my neighbor called us

Yes. Malay often allows this kind of time clause to come first or second.

So you can also say:

• Selepas jiran saya menelefon, polis datang ke rumah kami.

This means the same thing: After my neighbor called, the police came to our house.

The original version is also completely natural:

• Polis datang ke rumah kami selepas jiran saya menelefon.

Datang basically means come, but in many contexts it can also be translated naturally as came or arrived, depending on what sounds best in English.

So:

• Polis datang ke rumah kami literally = The police came to our house
• In natural English, it might also be understood as The police arrived at our house

Malay often uses broader everyday verbs where English may choose more specific ones.

No. Other pronouns are possible, but they change the tone or level of formality.

For example:

• jiran saya = my neighbor, polite/neutral
• jiran aku = my neighbor, more casual
• jiran ku = literary or poetic style

In ordinary standard Malay, saya is the safest and most widely appropriate choice.

You could add a time word, for example:

• Polis datang ke rumah kami selepas jiran saya menelefon semalam.
  = The police came to our house after my neighbor called yesterday.

Or you could add a past/completed marker:

• Polis datang ke rumah kami selepas jiran saya sudah menelefon.

Malay does not require these, but they can make the timing clearer.