59 responses to “Mamula Moon, Terang Bulan or Whatever”

1. besides, im so sorry for those chiese and indian out there…before malaysia exist, we called it as tanah melayu…u understand the word MELAYU..not tanah cina or tanah india…

   maybe for non malay, the history of our anthem song just like a piece of meat for you all..but for all malay, especially me, i appreciate that song and i appreciate the history…

   actually i dunno how to explain to y’all..i got some idea bout this topic but i just dunno how to bring it on!!

   for me, singapore act like a selfish dude who left their best friend (malaysia) after he got his goals…. I admit he (singapore) strong and maju…but why he dont want to walk together with his best friend (malaysia)….=(

   i wish one day malaysia and singapore can be bestfriend again..i believe that will happen…

2. Really Mamula Moon is better than Negaraku.

3. After I go through all comment and concern above, there is unbalance here…if the commenter is malay so is likely support more to Terang Bulan and if the commenter is chiniese so the comment support more mamula moon..???why??oh malaysian..by the way why need to discuss about this topic, we should refer to history or valid fact and not argue so for long..then make people not happy..is it this that you want?

4. Come on Malaysians…….
   We are Malaysians and we are ONE. What is the point dividing each other into races or ethnics?
   Malaysians are Malaysian. You will never be one if you do not know how to respect each other.

   What is the point argueing? Does it do you any good if you win the debate? Prove that you are smater than others? NO… not at all…….

   Now that the rythm and the lyrics are accepted as the National Anthem. Then, let it be.
   Whats the problem with the rythm? Will it do you any harm if it was adapted from other songs?
   Is just a rythm, nothing else. The most important thing in the National Anthem is the lyrics.

   I hope those who read this blog is only people who wants to know some history about Negaraku and not those people who wants to create arguments.

   Open your eyes, Malaysians.
   You will never get any better until you know how to respect each other.
   Malaysia will get to nowhere unless we are united under one nation.

5. u speak for ur self la haroz. think before u spit. dream on haroz

6. […] 到底是怎么一回事，我也不知道，不懂从何下手解释。或许可参考这名部落格的观点。 […]

7. MALAYSIA IS SOMEWHERE ON THE WORLD MAP
   (a comment by Citizen of the Snakehead Peninsula, edited by the author for grammar and usage (see square brackets))

   In my opinion, [the] Malaysian flag’s similarity to the U.S. flag is perfectly acceptable, if not laudable. After all, it has been written that the U.S. flag is similar to the flag of the British East India Company. Liberia, Cuba and Puerto Rico also have official flags very similar to the Stars and Stripes. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._flag)

   A cursory glance through relevant articles on Wikipedia will reveal the flag of Bikini Atoll to also resemble the [U.S.] flag, even though Bikini is a part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

   The American flag has long been a symbol of progress and liberty. It could have been historical ties, identification with American principles, desire for close cooperation with America, and a combination of these and other factors, that prompted leaders and/or communities to adopt American-ish flags.

   Food for thought: are state symbols protected by copyright laws?

   Do our designs always have to be so dissimilar to other cultural motifs?

   The Malaysian flag expresses the glory of an independent Malay state that refuses to be isolationist and seeks to integrate herself into a global fabric that the United Nations is apparently trying to weave. That this flag identifies us with the American nation is no bad thing: America is both a migrant society AND a land of indigenous races, and so is the case with Malaysia (Arab, Bugis, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Dusun, etc.)!

   NO ONE in his right mind will fly the Jalur Gemilang next to the Stars-and-Stripes and revel in egoistic pride that “Malaysia is as technologically-advanced and blah-blah-blah on par with the U.S.” No, we are NOT like the U.S. in many ways, though we are trying to be. I’d rather see our Jalur Gemilang design as an aspiration to adopt as practice the many fine ideals of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Jalur Gemilang is also an ongoing act of humility: its similarity with the U.S. flag shows that Malaysia understands it is subject to (though not subdued by) the leadership of the United States, whether economically, politically or culturally (indeed!); hence, our flag shows a very mature understanding of how the world really works and how our Malaysian people really live. As Malaysians we ought to know our place in the world, and — as much as some people, for political or religious reasons, would rather see the U.S. destroyed or decimated — we are looking forward to that day when the U.S. will once again be a glorious example for the whole world to follow, like in the days immediately after World War II. Today, we can read our Jalur Gemilang as saying, “America, we are willing to learn from you. Shall we work together?”

   We flood our living rooms day-after-day with American T.V. programmes; we listen to American pop music; we use American webhosting services; we blog on Blogspot; we write in English on…….! And we run our government according to British-American influence. Is it so wrong to acknowledge another culture for what we are learning from it? Is it wrong for Vietnam to have a flag like China’s, or the Chinese Communist Party to have a flag like that of the former Soviet Union? And for the post-1980 flag of Sarawak to assume colours that can be found on pre-independence Brooke Dynasty flags? And let’s go deeper: Japanese, Korean and Chinese cultures contain features so similar, we would have a hard time trying to attribute original authorship! (The famous qipao/cheongsam is not even Han Chinese, but Manchu in origin. But it is now a part of Chinese culture.) Many cultural motifs just aren’t protected by copyright!

   As a sidenote, it appears Somalia’s flag was adopted as a thank-you to the United Nations’ effort at peace in the territory.

   Speaking of our anthem, the BM Wikipedia has a writeup on Negaraku that you may want to read: http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagu_negaraku Whether it [was] Terang Bulan or Mamula Moon that inspired our leaders (in Perak and in Kuala Lumpur) to raise flags to the tune, I say it does not matter. Yes, no one can say that our National Anthem tune is ‘original”; it isn’t, and so what? We just have to come right out and be honest about it. Haven’t you thought about the similarity between the song “Dayung Sampan” and “Tian Mi Mi”, the latter performed by the late Teresa Teng?

   In the built environment, in science and technology, and in medicine, we use loads of foreign and Western stuff. Who came up with the structural steel-frame buildng? Paved roads using bitumen? Telephone wires? Fighter jets? Electricity? And yet, we say “Malaysiaku Gemilang” (and in their Los Angeles-like cosmopolitan city, Singaporeans sing “Majulah Singapura”) in praises of progresses that sometimes have little to do with our own innovations.

   In the final analysis, is it such a bad thing that Malaysia’s flag looks like the American one? Nope, unless someone-high-up starts saying that the Americans copied our flag! ■

8. “Mamula Moon:
   ….a song to a popular French melody, originally composed by the lyricist Pierre Jean de Beranger (1780-1857), who was born and died in Paris”.

   Hmmm, 1780-1857, was there a Copy Rights infringement to something that belongs to the 18 century’s.
   My, how petty can one get to be.

   If it were so, then wearing this tie, socks and coat would be a shameful and an embarrassing act. Infact, typing this in English would be considered one ‘Copy Right” infringement too.

   So, when are we going to start moving on!.

9. i agree Malaysian suka tiru punya. but Negaraku is the original song. The Melody is written by Pierre der Jen Baringer (salah eja sorry) looooong time ago. And after that it is adapted as Perak’s national anthem, and later Terang Bulan pun muncul. Felix Mendelssohn was the last one to use the melody. Despite of Negaraku merely copied from perak’s song, that could be considered original also. my two cents.