The Indonesian language has borrowed extensively from European languages, particularly from Dutch, but also from Portuguese. The word for Christmas has been taken directly from Portuguese and it is spelled and pronounced the same way: Natal. Where Portuguese greet each other using Feliz Natal! Indonesians greet each other with Selamat Hari Natal! or simply Selamat Natal!. The word selamat, which simply means ‘safe (from calamities)’ is an Arabic loanword.
Here are some usages of selamat:
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