helang

Borrowed from Malay helang (“eagle”). Originated from a comment made by the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris: "Kau jangan lupa helang dan pipit terbang tak sama tinggi" (You better not forget that the eagle and the pipit cannot fly on the same height).

helang (plural helangs)

1. (Malaysia, derogatory, slang, politics) a corrupt politician or an elite person.

• Hyphenation: he‧lang
• IPA^(key): /ˈhelaŋ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈʔelaŋ/ (h-dropping)

helang

1. Misspelling of hilang.

From Austroasiatic. Compare Bahnar klang, Pacoh calang, Khmer ខ្លែង (khlaeng), Mang laːŋ¹, Central Nicobarese [Nancowry] kalâng and Chong kʰlaːˀŋ.

The second sense originated from a comment made by the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris: "Kau jangan lupa helang dan pipit terbang tak sama tinggi" (You better not forget that the eagle and the pipit cannot fly on the same height).

• IPA^(key): /həlaŋ/
• Rhymes: -əlaŋ, -laŋ, -aŋ

helang (Jawi spelling هلڠ‎, plural helang-helang, informal 1st possessive helangku, 2nd possessive helangmu, 3rd possessive helangnya)

1. eagle (Any of several large carnivorous birds in the family Accipitridae)
2. (derogatory, slang, politics) a corrupt politician or an elite person.

• Indonesian: elang
• → English: helang

• “helang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.