Of Rasa Sayang Eh, Negara Ku and Other Blues (Helmy's fb notes)

On Rasa Sayang Eh - to my ears, it's obviously Portuguese in rhythm and structure in spite of the claim by some Indonesians. On Negaraku, the popular story is that the Perak State Anthem (which Negara ku is based on) was based on the Indonesian song Terang Bulan (circa 1920s) which was originally based on a "Hawaiian" song entitled Mamula Moon by Felix Mandehlson ... Well, this is nothing but a myth as first, Indonesia did not exist in the 1920s as its official independence date is 17th August 1945. Second, Mamula Moon as recorded by Mendehlson was officially composed in 1947 which is more than 20 years after Terang Bulan became popular in the Nusantara. Third, the first official rendition / performance of the Perak State Anthem was in 1901 during the installation of King Edward VII and this clearly was before Terang Bulan became popular. Fourth, the Perak State Anthem traced its roots to the French song La Rosalie which was composed by Pierre-John de Beranger (1780 - 1857) that was popular in the Seychelles Islands as Ma Fiancee Soyez Toujours Constante (MFSTC) during the period when Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah II, the 26th Sultan of Perak (1874 -1876), was exiled to the Seychelles circa 1877 - 1895. Based on the accepted "official" dates as per above, the following can be deduced : La Rosalie was composed in the 19th Century and became popular in the Seychelles where it was "heard" by Raja Mansor ibni Sultan Abdullah who later in 1901, recommended to Sultan Idris I of Perak for the music of the Perak State Anthem to be based on MFSTC and later, once the lyrics was composed, the State Anthem was officially known as Allah Lajutkan Usia Sultan (ALUS). In the 1920s, the Malay song Terang Bulan was reportedly composed as a Bangsawan song and initially became popular in Singapore and later to the whole of Nusantara especially in what is now Indonesia. Only in the 1940s was Mamula Moon composed in the US as a Hawaiian song which then became popular globally. For the record, it was decided during Merdeka that the Federation of Malaya's National Anthem be based on the Perak Anthem ALUS with the appropriate change in lyrics as well as having the chorus repeated twice.