This is the 455th most frequent Malay word.
balas
Reply / Respond / Answer
In this sentence, 'balas' is used to mean 'to reply' or 'to respond' (conveying the action of responding to a message).
Kawan saya balas emel saya dengan segera.
My friend replied to my email promptly.
Here, 'balas' implies 'to repay' or 'to reciprocate' (conveying a sense of returning a favor or action).
Dia berjanji untuk balas jasa baik saya suatu hari nanti.
She promised to repay my kindness one day.
In this usage, 'balas' means 'retaliatory' or 'answering back' in the context of an action or response to an aggression.