The song "Rasa Sayang" is a folk song in the Malay language, familiar to all, yet is the subject of much debate and discussion. Writing this from a Malaysian point of view, anyone who has spent their childhood growing up in Malaysia surely knows the song. The lyrics are as follows;
Rasa sayang, hey!,
Rasa sayang sayang hey,
Hey lihat nona jauh,
Rasa sayang sayang hey!
Buah cempedak di luar pagar,
Ambil galah tolong jolokkan,
Saya budak baru belajar,
Kalau salah tolong tunjukkan.
Pulau pandan jauh ke tengah,
Gunung daik bercabang tiga,
Hancur badan dikandung tanah,
Budi yang baik dikenang juga.
Dua tiga kucing berlari,
Mana sama si kucing belang,
Dua tiga boleh ku cari,
Mana sama abang seorang.
Pisang emas dibawa berlayar,
Masak sebiji di atas peti,
Hutang emas boleh dibayar,
Hutang budi dibawa mati.
The structure of the song is a "pantun" (pronounced parn-toon) which means a rhyme in Malay. Basically the first verse is a sort of chorus which is repeated after every pantun, each spanning 4 sentences (in this case the pantuns used are some of the most popular Malay nursery rhymes).
The song itself is in the public domain as a traditional song and does not have any copyright, no estate, no composer - which is where the controversy begins. As of recent the origins of the song have come into dispute, with Indonesia claiming that the song originates from their country and Malaysia claiming that the song is theirs. To be honest, as my teacher said, Malaysia is the fusion capital of the world when it comes to music. From Javanese to Indian, Arabic to Chinese, Malaysia is probably the only country in the world to have such a diverse and rich cultural background. Our wayang kulit and kuda kepang, while similar are actually two very different cultures. The rhythms used in Indian music here vary vastly from the ones from India, and even the Chinese culture here is very different, down to the architecture.
It is entirely possible that the song might have originated anywhere - it could have been a Javanese folk tune, a Thai folk song, maybe even from Burma or even India - who knows, really! It is also highly likely that the lyrics have been changed, the structure and ryhthm have been changed and that the song could be entirely different altogether, over time, handed down to generations. The song enjoys equal popularity in both Malaysia and Indonesia and is taught in elementary schools and kindergarten in both nations - I believe that it's an amalgamation of both cultures and we're all brothers and sisters, really. Why the dispute is beyond my comprehension!
Having said that, this is an original arrangement (yes we own the rights to this particular arrangement - it originates from Malaysia!) by the jazz-fusion band JUNK. This is a fusion of Afro-Cuban, Funk, Javanese and Malay styles all in one. Enjoy our work!
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