Bear, Diah and Pasha

Squabble over Rasa Sayang

Posted on the August 26th, 2008 under News by papabear

The squabble over a folk song called Rasa Sayang (Feeling of Love) between Malaysia and Indonesia seems to get out of hand to the point that talks need to be held to resolve the issues. This is what has been reported in Yahoo News, Malaysia and Indonesia start talks after squabble over song, last Friday.

I have not heard about this matter in the local news lately but in this news, it is said that there have been calls to boycott Malaysian products in Indonesia. I guess this is not the first time that I heard about boycotting Malaysian products there…

In my opinion, to bicker about a song is really something unproductive for both Malaysia and Indonesia. There are many other more important issues that needs to be resolved and why do people have to pick a fight over a song. It is not even the national anthem or song for any of the two countries.

Indonesia believes the song originated from its eastern islands of Maluku, as the lyrics of the Indonesian version suggest, while Malaysians say they have been singing the song since they were young.

That is really a fact since I, myself, have been singing that song in kindergarten music class. It’s a lovely song to sing and it keeps me awake in that class. Anyway, It is not surprising that the song could have come from Indonesia since history teaches us that people have been traveling all over the Malay Archipelago for trading, learning, etc… So, it doesn’t have to belong to a single country and furthermore, the lyrics are no really identical, only the tune.

We should all sing Rasa Sayang and spread the feeling of love and stop hating each other.

Lastly, do not hate the country, the people, the culture or anything else. If you really have to hate something about another nation, just hate the politicians! For all you know, this squabble could be a product of some politicians wanting to get some attentions or simply to look good in front of their supporters by playing with the emotions of some gullible people who have run out of cause to fight…

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