About 'berhubung' and 'berhubungan'

In today's post, I shall talk about two words which pose problems to users of the Malay language. These are 'berhubung' and 'berhubungan'. The latter is often used as if it is the former. However, the meanings are different.

The intransitive verb 'berhubung' means to communicate or to contact someone. Look at he following sentences to see what I mean.
1 Saya berhubung dengan kawanku yang belajar di England melalui e-mel.
[I communicate with my friend who is studying in England through email.]

2 Dia berhubung dengan balai bomba apabila nampak kebakaran berlaku.
[He contact the fire brigade when he saw that there was a fire.]

When the preposition 'dengan' is used after 'berhubung', both words mean 'concerning'. For example, you can write a sentence such as the one below:
Berhubung dengan perkara ini, saya sudah berbincanga dengan Ali tentangnya.
[Concerning this matter, I have talked with Ali about it.]

As for 'berhubungan', it means 'saling berhubung' or 'communicate mutally' in English. Note that you must start with 'Mereka' (They), 'Kami' (We) or a subject such as 'Ali dan Muthu' (Ali and Muthu) when you construct your sentence. Let us make some sentences using this word.
1 Mereka masih berhubungan walaupun tinggal berjauhan.
[They still communicate with each other although they live far apart.]

2 Kami berhubungan melaluli telefon atau e-mel kerana tinggal di negeri yang berlainan.
[We communicate with each other through telephone or email because we live in different states.]

3 Ali dan Albert berhubungan melalui surat kerana tinggal di negara yang berlainan.
[Ali and Albert communicate with each other through mail because they live in different countries.]