Saturday, October 3, 2009

OUR 'NEGARA KU' AND INDONESIA'S 'TERANG BULAN' - THE SAME?

No wonder Indonesia is claiming the tune for our national anthem as theirs! Listen to "Terang Bulan" and you be the judge.

3 comments:

AT said...

Goodness me, the tune is really the same! Hpw could some one did that? No wonder the Indonesians have alot to pick on us Malaysian!

seniorsaloud said...

Apparently the tune was first composed by a Frenchman in the 19th century. There're so many versions, including a Hawaiian version (Mamula Moon)and a Dutch one. The Indonesian version was first sung at a performance in Singapore in the 1920s. There are also as many different lyrics as there are versions.

No wonder Indonesia cannot make any legal claims to the tune as it wasn't even theirs to begin with!

'Terang Bulan' was adopted as the state anthem for Perak in 1901. In 1956, a competition was held to select a suitable song as the national anthem for the soon-to-be independent Malaya. A total of 514 entries were received, but none was deemed appropriate.

So our founding father, Tunku Abdul Rahman, decided to select the Perak state anthem as the national anthem as it was already familiar and very popular with the people. New lyrics were written, and, as we know, the rest is history!

In my opinion, I think we should come up with our own national anthem. With so many countries laying claim to the origins of "Negaraku", it would be a farce to call it our NATIONAL anthem.

Anonymous said...

this is really-really a plagiarism, because someone who created this song is an Indonesian but he is a descendant of Dutch.

original version:

Terang boelan, de maan schijnt over Java
En aan 't strand zit Nonja heel alleen
Ze denkt nog altijd aan haar Toean Landa
Die met z'n schip zolang van haar verdween
Ze denkt nog altijd aan haar Toean Landa
Die met z'n schip zolang van haar verdween

Hij had beloofd dat hij terug zou komen
Maar wat hij zei, dat bleek helaas niet waar
Ze zijn voorbij, haar mooie toekomstdromen
Haar hart doet pijn, het leven valt zo zwaar
Ze zijn voorbij, haar mooie toekomstdromen
Haar hart doet pijn, het leven valt zo zwaar

Toch is er iets dat haar nog vreugd kan geven
Dat is haar kind, met ogen hemelsblauw
De zon, die straalt weer even in haar leven
Als 't kindje zegt: "Ik blijf voorgoed bij jou"
De zon, die straalt weer even in haar leven
Als 't kindje zegt: "Ik blijf voorgoed bij jou"

De zon, die straalt weer even in haar leven
Als 't kindje zegt: "Ik blijf voorgoed bij jou"
De zon, die straalt weer even in haar leven
Als 't kindje zegt: "Ik blijf voorgoed bij jou"