my new favourite malay sentence from class last night is:

budak ini hati terang = this child's heart is bright.

i was disappointed to find that that didn't mean that the child is of a gay and loving nature, or even a bright child in the arthur jarvis way, vision like a burning light wherever he goes, but simply that the child is pandai, or clever. still, i like that the malays, just like the chinese, think with their hearts.

(x-refer chinese 用心想 or 心思, or when they praise someone for being 心灵手巧, and understanding something thoroughly as 心领神会, or even 心算 (lit: counting with the heart, i.e. doing mental arithmetic.)