The national language of Malaysia is Bahasa Melayu (pronounced ba-HA-sa muh-LIE-you), or Malay. While everyone speaks B.M., there are regional dialects that make the language sound different. For example, in Perlis, the word for “bicycle” is gerek (pronounced geh-rek), but everywhere else in Malaysia people call it basikal (pronounced just like bicycle)! This type of regional variation can be observed in many countries around the world. For example, in the U.S., specifically in North Carolina, most people call soda (Pepsi, Coke, or any other brand) “pop.”
Other languages spoken in Malaysia include English, Chinese (Mandarin and Hokkien), and Tamil (which is spoken primarily by people who are from India).
The type of money that is used here is the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). One U.S. dollar is the equivalent to four ringgit or RM four.
A 1.5 liter bottle of water costs around RM 2.50 or $0.60.
