mak cik

My boss like to play safe - he called all unknown ladies CIKPUAN. Then the lady will correct him either Cik / Puan.

Puan

if young, then cik, if old, kak or puan :X

Cik/Puan will be acceptable.

Imformally I would address them Adik or Dik..

Not only when face to face, we address CIK/PUAN in corporate email too.

However in formal we address PUAN. Government letters all put PUAN only, no CIK. If don't know the gender, TUAN/PUAN.

Señorita

This is a nice approach, and it is brilliant !

Always go for CIK. Those aunty will smile like no tomorrow when you call them cik

apa susah,

if low rank, clerk/salesgirl, cik

if shes a higher rank,a boss/manager/leader, puan

basically cik is informal, puan is formal.

Rule of thumb regardless of race is that women always felt more discriminated when you called them according to their age.

Once a long time ago where I worked as data entry in Citibank. There was a sweet malay lady who was married with two kids. I have been calling her kak but once day she suddenly told me dont call me kak. Even ask my age and indeed she was 1 year younger than me.

For female (Ms) very safe unless she request for title like Tun or Tan Sri. For male (Mr). Been doing this for the past 12 years lol. So far no complaint.

Puan for females irrespective of status. Cik is for unmarried female. Use puan unless they say they aren't married which is a hint to use cik

Wow all malay ladies i met, as long as they are older, even older by 15 minutes, they still want you to use kak.

I guess they like to dominate

Don't use Puan...use Cik instead

CIK

It all depends on the purpose and context of the conversation.

CIK works well for me in formal situations

DAYANG/SAYANG works well for all other situations

Cik/Puan both also fine. If you are addressing female government workers normally use Puan.

I guess if you want to play safe, put "Puan/Cik"