Manual of Style (MoS) | |||||||
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These guidelines are still being developed. Feel free to improve them, or discuss them on the talk page.
These guidelines cover the style conventions to be used in Malaysia-related articles. Please discuss proposed significant changes at the talk page or by announcing them at the WikiProject Malaysia talk page.
Contents
Naming conventions
Malaysian people
The naming convention for Malaysian people should all follow Wikipedia's policy on common names. Different conventions apply to Malaysian people of different ethnicity. Many Malaysian names have patronymics instead of family names. In general, people who have names with patronymics should be addressed by their first name(s), and people with surnames should be addressed by their surname.
Malay names
A patronym is employed by almost all Malays. Article titles should not include bin (Malay for "son of" borrowed from Arabic) or binti ("daughter of"), as they appear in local English-language publications
- {first name} {father's name} (e.g. Anwar Ibrahim, not Anwar bin Ibrahim).
In addition, long Malay names that are shortened when they appear in English-language publications should adopt the most common shortened name (e.g. Najib Razak, not Mohd Najib Abdul Razak). However, the words bin, binti and the full names may be inserted into the first line of the lead section, with the inclusion of honorifics, to be discussed later (e.g. Mohd Najib bin Abdul Razak).
People with Malay names should always be addressed by their first name(s) in the article. Where confusion may occur, it is recommended that the hatnote {{Malay name}} be used.
Members of the Malaysian royal family and nobility adopt hereditary titles in their names, such as Tunku, Tengku and Raja. Such titles should be included in the article title. However, whether to include the title in their patronymic would depend on how they choose to style themselves and how their names usually appear in English-language publications:
- {title} {first name} {father's name} (e.g. Raja Petra Kamaruddin, not Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin);
- {title} {first name} {title} {father's name} (e.g. Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, not Tengku Adnan Mansor).
In very rare occurrences, Malay people may carry surnames (although still with a patronymic), such as Albar, Barakbah, Jamallulail and Shahabuddin. The article title should depend on how the person chooses to style himself/herself and how the name usually appears in English-language publications:
- {first name} {father's name} {surname} (e.g. Syed Sheh Hassan Barakbah: first name = Syed Sheh, father's name = Hassan, surname = Barakbah);
- {first name} {surname} (e.g. Syed Hamid Albar: first name = Syed Hamid, surname = Albar; not Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar).
When sorting the article, ensure it does not get incorrectly sorted by the patronymic. Add a comment as shown in the example below:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najib Razak}} <!--Do not sort by "Razak" as this is a patronymic, not a surname.-->
Chinese names
Titles of articles regarding Chinese Malaysian people should follow the usual Chinese naming convention. Chinese names present the surname first, followed by the given name, which usually consists of two words:
- {surname} {given name} (e.g. Lim Goh Tong: surname = Lim, given name = Goh Tong).
The inclusion of the name in the Chinese script is allowed.
People with Chinese names should always be addressed by their surname, unless two people with the same surname are being mentioned (e.g. when referring to Ong Ka Ting and Ong Tee Keat (unrelated): Ka Ting and Tee Keat, not Ong and Ong). Where confusion may occur, it is recommended that the hatnote {{Chinese name}} be used.
Some Chinese also take on a Western personal name, which they place in front of their surname, in addition to their Chinese given name, which they place behind their surname. This leads to the surname being in the middle of the full name, which is perfectly common in Malaysia. Sometimes the Chinese given name is omitted. In other cases, the Chinese given name is placed in between the Western given name and surname. The article title should depend on how the person chooses to style himself/herself and how the name usually appears in English-language publications:
- {Western name} {surname} {Chinese given name} (e.g. George Chan Hong Nam: Western name = George, surname = Chan, Chinese given name = Hong Nam)
- {Western name} {Chinese given name} {surname}
- {Western name} {surname} (e.g. Michelle Yeoh).
When sorting the article, sort by surname, then Chinese given name:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Goh Tong}}
Or if the person has a Western name, sort by surname, then Western given name:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, George}}
Indian names
Indian Malaysians follow Tamil naming conventions, which uses patronymics. The name on a male person's official documents are usually {given name} a/l {father's name}. The abbreviation a/l stands for anak lelaki, which means "son of" (s/o) in Malay. The female equivalent is anak perempuan (a/p) or (d/o). In English-language publications, names usually appear with the father's name initials placed before the given name, but this is not universal.
The article title should depend on how the person chooses to style himself/herself and how the name usually appears in English-language publications. They should not include a/l or a/p:
- {given name} {father's name} (e.g. Subramaniam Sathasivam, not Subramaniam a/l Sathasivam);
- {father's name initial}. {given name} (e.g. S. Samy Vellu for Samy Vellu a/l Sangalimuthu)
The first line of the lead section should address the person in the full legal name, followed by the name used to refer to the person in English-language publications:
- Subramaniam s/o K.V. Sathasivam (Tamil: சுப்ரமணியம்; known as S. Subramaniam) is ...
The inclusion of the name in the Tamil script (or other Indian language) is allowed.
People with Tamil names should always be addressed by their first name(s) in the article. Where confusion may occur, it is recommended that the hatnote {{Indian name}} be used.
Indians who are not Tamils also follow the Tamil naming convention of including a patronymic. For such cases, the patronymic should not be included in the article title. In addition, some Sikhs take on clan names, which should be included in the article title:
- {given name} Singh (e.g. Karpal Singh, not Karpal Singh Ram Singh);
- {given name} Singh {clan name} (e.g. Gobind Singh Deo: given name = Gobind, clan name = Deo).
When sorting the article, ensure it does not get incorrectly sorted by the patronymic. Add a comment as shown in the example below:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramaniam, Sathasivam}} <!--Do not sort by "Sathasivam" as this is a patronymic, not a surname.-->
Dayak names
Dayak people take on a surname and a patronymic. Article titles should not include the patronymic, just as they appear in local English-language publications:
- {given name} {surname} (e.g. Michael Manyin, not Michael Manyin anak Jawong).
People with Dayak names should always be addressed by their surname
The first line of the lead section should address the person in the full legal name, followed by the name used to refer to the person in English-language publications.
Honorifics
Per Wikipedia policy, honorifics and Malay titles should not to be included in the article title. The exception would be if a particular name is the most common form of the name used in English (e.g. Tun Abdul Razak, not Abdul Razak Hussein). In addition, per Wikipedia policy, styles and honorifics, such as Yang Berhormat ("The Honourable"), should not be included in the text inline, but may be discussed in the article proper or added to the infobox.
The first line of the lead section should include the highest Malay title conferred upon the person and his/her full long-form name, without the style. Avoid including lower-ranking titles in the first line:
- Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad (not Yang Amat Berhormat Tun Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad)
- Dato' Seri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (not Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Seri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak)
- Tun Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas (not Tuan Yang Terutama Tun Dato' Seri Utama Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas)
The full list of titles may be included in the infobox.
Places
Where possible, articles on places in Malaysia use {Placename}. Where disambiguation with a place outside of Malaysia is required, {Placename}, Malaysia is used, if disambiguation between two places in Malaysia is required, {Placename}, {State} is used.
For names of places, geographical features, buildings, roads, etc. we should generally use its English name, unless it is more commonly known by its Malay name. For example, Gunung Kinabalu, Sungai Perak, and Pulau Redang should be titled Mount Kinabalu, Perak River, and Redang Island respectively; Menara Maxis should be titled Maxis Tower;
Institutions
Institutions such as organisations, government bodies and political offices should also generally use their English names. For example, Polis Diraja Malaysia should be titled Royal Malaysian Police. However, some institutions may have no established English usage due to little attention in the English-speaking world. For example, there is no widely accepted English-language version of Universiti Putra Malaysia.
In addition, some Malay names of political offices may be used extensively in local English-language publications. For example, Menteri Besar (literally "Great Minister", equivalent to "Chief Minister") is untranslated in English-language publications, and should be left as such.
Vernacular languages and alternative scripts
Alternative languages and scripts such as Chinese, Indian or Jawi should not be included in any Malaysia-related article (apart from biographies), both in the text inline and infobox. The rationale behind this was agreed upon here.
Templates
Generally, two types of templates are frequently used: infoboxes and navigational boxes. For exclusively Malaysia-related articles refer to Category:Malaysia templates. For infobox usage:
- Cities (including large towns without city status): Currently using {{Infobox settlement}}. Federal Territories also uses this template.
- Small towns and large suburbs: None.
- States: {{Infobox settlement}}
- Article series templates: {{History of Malaysia}}, {{Politics of Malaysia}}
- For other Malaysia-related articles use the standard world-wide templates (infobox) (e.g.: rivers, national parks, conservation areas, mountains, conflicts, airports, films, actors, musical groups, shopping complexes, skyscrapers, train stations, companies, etc.). See Category:Wikipedia template categories.