Rasa Sayang

"Rasa Sayang" (pronounced [ˈrasa 'sajaŋ], literally "loving feeling") or "Rasa Sayange" is a folk song from Malay Archipelago,[2][3][4][5] popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The basis of "Rasa Sayang" is similar to Dondang Sayang and other Malay folk songs, which take their form from the pantun, a traditional ethnic Malay poetic form.[6]

"Rasa Sayang"
Song
LanguageAmbonese Malay
English titleRasa Sayang, Rasa Sayange
Genre
Songwriter(s)Paulus Pea[1]

Lyrics
Malay lyrics[7][8][9] English translation Poetic English Translation

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 di kandung tanah,
Budi yang baik dikenang juga.

Dua tiga kucing berlari,
Mana sama si kucing belang;
Dua tiga boleh ku cari,
Mana sama adik seorang.

Pisang emas dibawa berlayar,
Masak sebiji di atas peti;
Hutang emas boleh dibayar,
Hutang budi dibawa mati.

I've got that loving feeling, hey!
I've got that loving feeling, hey!
See that girl in the distance,
I've got that loving feeling hey!

The cempedak fruit is outside the fence,
Take a pole and poke it down;
I'm just a child trying to learn,
So if i'm wrong then please tell me.

Pandan Island far in midst,
With the three peaked Mount Daik;
While the body decomposes in earth,
Good deeds remain to be remembered.

Two or three cats are running around,
With the striped one which can vie;
Two or three I can find,
Which girl can compare with you.

Pisang emas brought on a sailing trip,
One ripens on a box;
If gold is owed, it can be repaid,
But if it is gratitude, it is carried to the grave.

I've got that loving feeling, hey!
I've got that loving feeling, hey!
See that girl in the distance,
I've got that loving feeling hey!

Where cempedak tree grows without the fence,
Go prod them gently with a stake;
A youthful learner I, so hence,
Be please to point out each mistake.

The Pandan Isle is far from land,
Have three peaks does the Daik Mountain;
Though the self has rot in the sand,
The good deeds are never forgotten.

Two or three cats are running around,
The cat with stripes is the one superior;
Two or three (gals) can be easily found,
But not the same as having you, my dear.

With golden plantains sail away,
Whilst on a chest lies one that's ripe;
The debts of gold we can repay,
But debts of kindness last through life.

Because this song is in pantun form, for each quatrain, there is no relevance of the first two lines to the message conveyed by the last two except to provide the rhyming scheme. There are a number of versions of the lyrics of "Rasa Sayang", but it usually starts with this refrain:

Rasa sayang, hey!
Rasa sayang-sayang hey,
Lihat nona dari jauh,
Rasa sayang-sayang, hey

The refrain is then followed by a wide variety of popular Malay pantun

Ambonese Malay version

Rasa sayange
Rasa sayang sayange
Eee lihat dari jauh,
Rasa sayang sayange

Kalau ada sumur di ladang
Boleh kita menumpang mandi
Kalau ada umurku panjang
Boleh kita bertemu lagi

Controversy

Controversy over the song's provenance came to a head in 2007 when the Malaysian Tourism Board released the Rasa Sayang Commercial, an advertisement used as part of Malaysia's "Truly Asia" tourism campaign.[10] Some Indonesians have accused Malaysia of heritage theft. Indonesians argued that it is a song of the Maluku Islands, and that it has appeared in early Indonesian films and recordings.[11] Around a thousand Indonesians demonstrated outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta in November 2007 to protest the use of "Rasa Sayang" and other cultural items such as Reog Ponorogo in such adverts.[12] In order to prevent what they considered cultural appropriation, the Indonesian government started making an inventory of such songs as cultural properties of the country.[11]

Malaysia in turn argued that the song is widely sung through out the Malay archipelago, and that it belongs to people of archipelago, Malaysians and Indonesians alike.[13] In cases where people have been migrating, trading and intermingling for centuries in a region, it may be difficult to make claim of cultural property.[14] Malaysian Tourism Minister Adnan Mansor stated, "It is a folk song from the Nusantara (Malay archipelago) and we are part of the Nusantara.".[10] The Malaysian Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Rais Yatim, recognize that Rasa Sayange is a shared property, between Indonesia and Malaysia.[15]

Early recordings and uses

Indonesian media reported on November 11, 2007 that an early recording of the song has been found.[16] "Rasa Sayange" is known to be recorded first at the 1962 Lokananta Solo record company. The LPs were distributed as souvenirs to participants of the 4th Asian Games in 1962 in Jakarta, and the song "Rasa Sayange" was one of the Indonesian folk songs on the dish, along with other Indonesian ethnic songs such as Cheers for Joy, O Ina ni Keke, and Sengko Dainang.[17][16]

The song has appeared in a number of earlier films. In 1959, a comedy film in Malay language titled Rasa Sayang Eh was produced by Cathay Keris in Singapore.[18] The song also appeared in the Japanese film Marai no Tora in 1943, depicting the exploits of a Japanese secret agent Tani Yutaka in Malaya during the World War II.[19]

In 1954 and 1950, Indonesia launched films entitled Lewat Djam Malam and Darah dan Doa by director Usmar Ismail, which included the song "Rasa Sayange". But long before that, the Dutch East Indies now (Indonesia) had made promotional recordings using this song before World War II. This film, titled Insulinde zooals het leeft en werkt (transl. Insulindia as It Lives and Works), has silent footage filmed in the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s by Willy Mullens but with sound added later, was released perhaps in 1941.[20] The tune of "Rasa Sayang" can be heard in the film.[21] The original footage of this film is stored in the Gedung Arsip Nasional, Jakarta and other museums.[11] A further film also existed under the title Insulinde (1925) which was directed by Max Hauschild, but is described as a silent film.[22]

Trivia
  • The Rasa Sayange song is used as the opening title of a Cooking program with same title, Rasa Sayange which broadcast by MNCTV

See also

References
  1. Verelladevanka Adryamarthanino, Rheisnayu Cyntara (2020-10-08). "Lirik dan Chord Lagu Daerah Rasa Sayange, Karya Paulus Pea". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  2. Jonathan H. X. Lee & Kathleen M. Nadeau (2010). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO. pp. 769. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5.
  3. Shirley Geok-lin Lim; Larry E Smith; Wimal Dissanayake, eds. (1999). Transnational Asia Pacific: Gender, Culture, and the Public Sphere. University of Illinois Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-252-06809-6.
  4. Koichi Iwabuchi; Stephen Muecke; Mandy Thomas, eds. (2004). Rogue Flows: Trans-Asian Cultural Traffic. University of Washington Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-962-209-699-8.
  5. Gerwyn Elidor David Lewis (1992). Out East in the Malay Peninsula. OUP South East Asia. p. 142. ISBN 978-967-65-1594-0.
  6. L. F. Brakel; M. Balfas; M. Taib Bin Osman; J. Gonda; B. Rangkuti; B. Lumbera; H. Kahler (1976). Handbuch der Orientalistik: Literaturen, Abschn. 1. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers. p. 135. ISBN 90-04-04331-4.
  7. "The Rasa Sayang Song". Rasa Sayang USA. Archived from the original on 2010-04-08. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  8. "Koleksi Lirik Lagu Rakyat". Imnogman. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  9. "Pantun Rumpun Melayu". Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  10. "Folk song sparks row between Indonesia, Malaysia." Tourism Indonesia. 3 October 2007.
  11. "Malaysia Merebut Kekayaan Indonesia". Liputan6.com (in Indonesian). 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  12. Ying Chan Ho (2018). Special Relationship in the Malay World. ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 357. ISBN 9789814818179 – via Google Books.
  13. "'Rasa Sayang' belongs to everybody, says minister". The Star. 12 January 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  14. Gillespie, John; Peerenboom, ‎Randall (2009). Regulation in Asia: Pushing Back on Globalization. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135249144 – via Google Books.
  15. "Malaysia Akhirnya Akui Rasa Sayange Milik Bersama". antaranews.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  16. "Ditemukan Bukti Lagu "Rasa Sayange" Asli Indonesia". Tempo.co (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  17. "Pemusik Maluku Bahas Lagu Rasa Sayange dengan Gubenur". Detik.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  18. Rasa Sayang Eh, Singapore Film Locations Archive, retrieved 2020-07-11
  19. "Tiger of Malaya": The Body Remembers What the Archive Cannot, Asian Arts Media Roundtable, retrieved 2020-07-11
  20. Insulinde zoals het leeft en werkt. Eye Filmmuseum. Event occurs at 05:00–05:40 – via YouTube.
  21. Rasa sayang sayange dalam film Belanda.
  22. "Insulinde (1925)". IMDb. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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