馬打

Borrowed from Malay mata-mata (“police”).

馬打

1. (Singapore, Malaysia, chiefly dialectal; dated in Xiamen Hokkien) police; police officer
   • 2004, “搖來搖去”‎^[1]performed by 黃一飛與喵喵組合:

     駕車又驚馬達追，驚會抓去吹口哨 [Hokkien, trad.]
     驾车又惊马达追，惊会抓去吹口哨 [Hokkien, simp.]

     hōaⁿ-chhia iū kiaⁿ má-tâ tui, kiaⁿ ē lia̍h khì pûn pi-pi [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     When driving, I'm afraid that the police will chase after me, that they will catch me and blow their whistles.

   • 2010 September 6, 敦符国荣博士 [Tun Dr Foo Kok Yong], “黄明志老弟，你是可以的。”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[2], archived from the original on 16 October 2022:

     馬打便招了你老弟去問問作作記錄好交差。 [MSC, trad.]
     马打便招了你老弟去问问作作记录好交差。 [MSC, simp.]

     Mǎdǎ biàn zhāo le nǐ lǎodì qù wènwèn zuòzuò jìlù hǎo jiāochāi. [Pinyin]

     So the police beckoned your younger brother for interrogation so that he could get a record to report on.

• → Thai: หมาต๋า (mǎa-dtǎa)