The Prince and His Harem - Glossary

Glossary and Information

Abang – “Older brother” in Malay

Air Harimau Bintang -  The name of Rickie’s boat “Water Tiger”

Apa khabar – “How are you” in Malay

APMM – The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the equivalent of the US Coast Guard.  The acronym comes from Malay: Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malyasia

The Astana - The Astana is a palace in Kuching, Sarawak, on the north bank of the Sarawak River, opposite the Kuching Waterfront. It is the official residence of the Governor of Sarawak.

Bapa – “Father” in Malay

BKN –  Malaysian’s National Security Division.  The acronym comes from Malay: Bahagian Keselamatan Negara.  It is a department under the Prime Minister, and is responsible to oversee and regulate the intelligence community for the country

Compliant Tower (CT) – A form of petroleum platform that consists of a flexible narrow tower permanently attached to a foundation on the seafloor that extends up to the platform, used in deeper water (up to 3000 ft) wells

Damnoen saduak – The Floating Market in Bangkok, Thailand; it’s a famous area where hundreds of boats sell everything from produce to hot food

Duanwu / Dragon Boat Festival – Held on the 5th day of the 5th month based on the lunar calendar.  The focus of the celebration is eating rice dumplings known as zongzi, drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats, similar to sculls.

Durian – A spikey-skinned fruit popular in Southwest Asia, with custard-like edible seedpods, and is native to Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia.  It is known for have a strong odor

En – Malaysian honorific; the equivalent of Mr. / Ms. / Miss

Engkala – A fruit-bearing tree that grows wild in the Philippines and Indonesia, and cultivated in Peninsular Malaysia

Farang – “Foreigner” in Thai

FLNG – Floating Liquid Natural Gas platform –  A petroleum drill that extracts natural gas from underground petroleum deposits and concentrates it into liquid form for shipping

Forteen – A four-boy Malaysian idol group

Gawai Dayak – A festival celebrated in Sawarak on June 1st.  It starts at sunset on May 31st, and includes a ritual cleansing of the family home, visiting relatives or going to the ancestral homes, dancing and other forms of celebration

Ibu – “Mother” in Malay

Itaewon - Shopping area in Seoul, Korea, known to be the main area where foreigners shop

Jalan – “Road” in Malay

Kakak – “Sister” in Malay

Khabar baik – “I am fine” in Malay

Khao San Road – An area in Bangkok, Thailand which is known for eclectic clubs and fancy restaurants that is a favorite with travelers and tourists

Kotohuadan - "Thank you" in Kadazan

Kuching, Sarawak – A port city on the South China Sea

Leftenan Komander – A Grade 41 Major position in the APMM

Leftenan Madya Maritim - A Grade 32 Lieutenant position in the APMM

Michael Veerapan –A Malaysian jazz pianist

PASKAU – The acronym comes from Malay: PASukan KhAs Udara. A special counter-terrorism force and special operations tactical within the Royal Malaysian Air Force.  It’s main responsibility is to conduct combat search and rescue missions and the recovery of downed aircrew and is a fully-qualified coutnter-terrorist assault unit

Perempuan – “woman” in Malay

Perempuan bodoh – A very strong insult, the equivalent of “stupid woman”

Pulau Burung – An island off the coast of Penang

Pulau  Serasan -  A small island in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Indonesia

Putrajaya - Capitol and government seat of Sarawak

Sayang – “Beloved” in Malay

Selamat pagi – “Good morning” in Malay

Selamat petang – “Good evening” in Malay

Selamat sejahtera – A formal greeting in Malay

Selamat tengah hari – “Good afternoon” in Malay

Seruling – A small wooden flute native to Malaysia

Si Manis – “sweety” in Malay

Siti Nurhaliza – An internationally-known Malaysian singer, songwriter, and record producer

The Solianos –  A four-generation vocal group specializing in 7-part harmony

STAR – Acronym for Special Task and Rescue, it is the Special Forces for the MMEA, tasked with hostage rescue works in shallow waters under MMEA jurisdiction, as well as anti-terrorist action in Malaysian waters alongside the Malaysian Navy

Terima Kasih – “Thank you” in Malay

Tuanku – Traditional honorific for Malaysian individuals that are descended from certain royal lines

Yusof Ghani – Malaysian sculpture artist, specializing in stylized metalwork

Additional Trivia

The speech by the Chinese Foreign Minister in Chapter 30 is fairly accurate to an official statement made in September 2011, disputing India’s state-run petroleum explorer’s 3-year agreement with Petro Vietnam for developing long-term cooperation in the oil sector in certain blocks of the South China Sea.

In February 2011, PETRONAS awarded the first contract for a FLNG platform to a consortium that included Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.  It was scheduled to have a capacity of one million tons per year.