Malaysia Permanent Residence PR (Permit Masuk) - Learning Bahasa Malaysia (BM/Malay) for PR Interviews

 
Applicants for PR are expected to be able to speak Bahasa Malaysia (BM) in the interviews with immigration and the police. 
 
Although I had taken BM classes a few years ago, I had not spoken it much since. However, I prepared and revised a lot and was able to get through both interviews (with the help of my wife!)
 
These are my tips and advice for learning BM and preparing for the interviews:
 
1) Take BM lessons

If you don’t speak any BM then I suggest you consider taking lessons. I had previously attended lessons once a week for 3 months, and although I had not used it much in the years since, some of it was lodged at the back of my brain so that I could still understand a lot of Malay words (but I had little confidence in speaking it!).
 
2) Use the Ling language learning app

I signed up for the Ling app because it has Bahasa Malaysia as one of its available languages. Most apps do not include BM, so this is a great, easy to use and fun app you can use anywhere to practice speaking and listening to BM. It is very useful to hear BM being spoken in everyday situations and this helped my confidence both in understanding and speaking BM. You can also use Ling for any other languages you are learning, so it is good value, especially when compared to the cost of going to language classes. If you decide to sign up for the Ling language app please consider using this affiliate link which will earn me a small commission: https://ling-app.com/ling-affilate/?referrer=8649 . Using my link won't cost you anything extra, and you will be helping to support this blog!

 
3) Revise the type of questions that will be asked and learn the answers to them 

I wrote out a list of all of the questions that other applicants had been asked that I had seen on Facebook forums, as well as general knowledge on Malaysia, the national anthem and Rukun Negara. **See below for example questions**
 
4) Practice speaking BM with your spouse

As well as day to day conversations, my wife and I practiced the interview and she asked me the likely questions. This was very helpful as it made me less nervous about the interview itself. I also got my wife to record the questions on my smartphone so that I could listen to them and practice answering them on my own!

Example Questions:
Below are some questions that I suggest you prepare answers for (this list is not exhaustive!). Translate these into BM (get your spouse to help if needed) and then prepare your answers in BM.
I recommend that you spend a lot of time practicing answering these questions:
 
Questions about you and your spouse:
What is your name?
What country do you come from?
What is your address/where do you stay?

Do you own or rent the house?
What is your age?
What is your date of birth?
Where were you born?
What is your wife/husband’s date of birth?
What is your religion?
What date did you first come to Malaysia?
What was the date of your first LTSVP?
How long have you lived in Malaysia?
How did you meet?
How long you have been married?
What was your marriage date?
Do you have any children?
What are your occupations?
Which company do you/your spouse work for?
What are your salaries?
What is your wife/husband’s monthly salary?
How many family members do you have?
Do you have siblings?
Do you have family in your home country?
What are your family members occupations?
Where does your family live?
How many siblings does your wife/husband have?
Where does your wife/husband’s family live?
How many times do you go to your country in a year?
What are your education qualifications?
What are your wife/husband’s qualifications?
Why do you want to apply for PR?
What do you like about Malaysia?
What do you like to do in Malaysia in your free time?
What does your wife/husband like to do?
What food do you like?
What is your telephone number?
Do you follow politics? **This was asked at the Police interview. Foreigners should not get involved in Malaysian politics!**
 
General Knowledge questions about Malaysia:
What is the Malaysian National Flower?
What colour is the National Flower?
What is the name of the Malaysian flag?
How many colours does the flag have and what are they?
How many stripes and what other symbols are on the flag?
When is Malaysia Independence Day (Hari Merdeka)?
When is Malaysia Day (Hari Malaysia)?
How many states are there and what are they?
Who is the prime minister?
Who are some other cabinet ministers?
Can you name all of the prime ministers?
Who is the king?
Sing the National Anthem (Negaraku)
Recite Rukun Negara
**You must learn Negaraku and Rukun Negara, as you can be asked to sing/recite them at either (or both!) interviews. I thought it would be difficult to learn them, but I practiced a lot and it was ok!**

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Thanks!