Most-Abused Word in the Malay Language?

Let's first begin this session by declaring that, you know, I'm not exactly the world's best practitioner of Malay. Despite being born Malay. At least I'm better at it than my parents.

Okay. It's about a word. A Malay one. Ceria.

This has been bothering me for years — a single word used so often that people take its existence for granted. I mean, you see it in government and Malayo-corporate mission statements. You see it in advertisements. Youth movements designed to capture the Malay mind use it to a nauseating degree.

Occasionally our artistes are called it. Sometimes the foreign ones, too, especially the happy, perky ones. Siti Nurhaliza sometimes. You know, that kind of thing.

And yet, all these years, I still have no idea what it means, exactly.

I mean, okay, you know what it means, right? Think ceria, and think a procession of perky, happy, cheerful and sunny dispositions walking down the aisle. These are the New Malaysians — without a care in the world, cheerful, perky, with nary a care in the world.

I'm pretty sure that's what it means. That's why I have my trusty old friend here, Kamus Dewan (edisi 1994). Together we'll sort out this mess.

And when the sorting out happened, we were kind of disappointed. I mean, I read the definition to my mother and sister:

“It isn't cheerful?”

“You're kidding me. Aren't there other definitions?”

“That's messed up.”

Seriously. Look into my dictionary, and not a single happy, perky, zesty and active word in it. You know what it says? My dad didn't believe me either when I read it to him:

“What rubbish. Are you sure?”

Positive. Not a single word of it.

Here's the definition:

ceria I sl tidak bernoda, bersih, suci, murni; menceriakan membersihkan, memurnikan, menyucikan.

I don't get it. I think my Kamus Dewan is broken.

Though actually, it makes a sinister kind of sense.