Translate this: Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae (CV) essentially is a piece of document deluged with what have ya! Here in Malaysia, jobseekers, especially new ones, tend to cramp it with every little detail that they might think is useful to future employer, for example the colour of one's underwear. Far-fetched you might think? Don't be surprised if you come across some ridiculous entry into their CV.

But I digress.

What is its translation in Malay? Biodata? Profile?

Those two suggestions doesn't quite fit the meaning, so explained by one of our facilitator, Tuan Syed Nurulakla, at the Translation Course organised by Persatuan Penterjemah Malaysia, that I currently attend. So then we asked, what Sir, might be the best translation of Curriculum Vitae?

His answer: Butiran Jaya Diri

He then told us, it is sort of an update from the current translation of CV, which is VK (Vitae Kurikulum), a simple borrowing from its source language, customised into Malay phonetic and grammar. But, does it sound Malay? No, of course not. So in order to Malaynise (sorry...) it, Malay Linguists had brainstormed themselves and then come up with BJD (as above).

Their reason is, as explained by Tuan Syed again, CV is essentially a list of your personal data plus your achievement in education and career. [ Butiran=Details; Jaya=Success (or to succeed); and Diri=Self ]. Which is very true as we (in the class) all agreed. But managing to wear the same pink underwear for 20 years cannot be and never will be considered an achievement. Don't ever put that in your BJD.

You may want to try it though. I mean the wearing, not the putting.

So, it's time to tell your newly graduated children to update their BJD, especially when applying for a government post. Good luck!