Patriotism in Artistic Form: Keranamu Malaysia

Art serves many functions - in which one of them is to promote patriotism. Art as a catalyst for patriotism have been used in many revolutionists' movements and nationalists' agenda to fuel their passion and love for their very own country. Until today, art had been seen being widely used as a tool of propaganda - which propagates a certain idealism for the mass.

There are many ways to convey patriotism; and one of it is through songs.

Today, I would like to highlight a song entitled Keranamu Malaysia (For You - Because of You, Malaysia) written by Syed Indera Syed Omar (Siso Kopratasa) and Suhaimi Mohd Zain (Pak Ngah).

Malay Lyrics

Buruh, nelayan dan juga petani

Gaya hidup kini dah berubah

Anak-anak terasuh mindanya

Lahir generasi bijak pandai

Pakar IT, pakar ekonomi

Jaguh sukan dan juga jutawan

Berkereta jenama negara

Megah menyusur di jalan raya

Alam siber teknologi terkini

Kejayaan semakin hampiri

Biar di kota ataupun desa

Kita semua pasti merasa bangga

Keranamu kami mendakap tuah

Keranamu kami bangsa berjaya

Keranamu kami hidup selesa

Limpah budi kemakmuran negara

Keranamu kami bebas merdeka

Keranamu nyawa dipertaruhkan

Keranamu rela kami berjuang

Demi bangsa kedaulatan negara

Keranamu Negara Malaysia

Malaysia...

Terima kasih Malaysia!

Anglicized Lyrics

Laborers, fishermen and farmers

The lifestyle has changed

Children are being nurtured with knowledge

Birthing a bright generation

IT expert, economist

Sportsmen and millionaires

(All) equipped with national brand cars

Proudly steered on the road

Cyber world: the latest technology

Success is approaching

Be it (living) in a town or village

We shall all feel the pride

Because of you, we can enjoy luck

Because of you, we are a successful nation

Because of you, we live comfortably

The richness of the country's prosperity

For you, we acquired freedom

For you, our lives are at stake

For you, we are willing to fight

For the sake of the nation's sovereignty

Because of you/ For you Malaysia

Malaysia…

Thank you Malaysia!

(Disclaimer: I translated the lyrics in my personal understanding of the whole song.)

1. Introduction

This is song is the theme song for the Independence Day since 2000 until 2006. This song shared the same name as the theme of the Independence Day, which was also ‘Keranamu Malaysia’.

The idea behind this song was allegedly the lyricist, Siso was impressed by John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) inaugural address whereby he uttered a challenge,” Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Those words was to dare Americans to socially contribute to the society to improve the public good. Thus, Siso wrote the lyrics that reflects the memorable quote.

Now, let’s look verse by verse and decrypt the meaning of the song.

Verse 1

Buruh, nelayan dan juga petani

Gaya hidup kini dah berubah

Anak-anak terasuh mindanya

Lahir generasi bijak pandai

This song tells a story from how Malaysia is on their way to become a developed country which exports our own productions and services to be marketed in the global arena.

In the first verse, it tells us about the change and shifts in our main economy.

During the pre-colonial era, our ancestors were fishermen and farmers. When we were colonized by the Western powers and Japan, our great-grandparents were labourers, in addition to the farming and fishing job that they inherit from their grandparents.

However, today, the kids are getting the education that the grandparents were once fought for. And by education and nurture, the minds of the future generation is being fed knowledge thus their children will become smart and intelligent – better than their ancestors. With education, everything changes including the lifestyle of Malaysian today (or contextually around 2000 and 2006).

Verse 2 and pre-chorus

Pakar IT, pakar ekonomi

Jaguh sukan dan juga jutawan

Berkereta jenama negara

Megah menyusur di jalan raya

Alam siber teknologi terkini

Kejayaan semakin hampiri

Biar di kota ataupun desa

Kita semua pasti merasa bangga

Verse 2 and pre-chorus tells about the society that we live in currently – in between 2000 and 2006.

Experts in IT and economy are budding; so does sportsmen and millionaires. These professionals who excel in their unique fields are all driving our very own national cars. It means that the development in producing our own national vehicle is excellent that everyone is seen driving them on the road.

The pre-chorus tells about the cyber world that is being utilized in many sectors including education, and production. With these technologies being nurtured in every sectors, we are closer to the target; being successful, achieving Vision 2020. As we grasp our target, we all should rejoice – be it we are in the city or in the rural area.

For the rest of the stanzas, I’ll be discussing it on language because of the complexity and technicality of Malay language.

2. Language

The syllables at the end of the lyrics does not usually rhyme or have the same homonyms or homophones. Quoting the first verse, “… petani, … berubah; … mindanya, … pandai,” the end sound does not rhyme with the end sound being /i/, /bʌh/, / ɲʌ/, and /aɪ/.

The complexity of the language being used is simple and straightforward which is shown by frequent use of active sentences like, “-kita semua pasti merasa bangga.” There are no jargons or any complicated terms in this song. It is easily comprehensible for everyone.

The song is in Modern Malay which means that it includes loan words from other nations and languages. Loan words with English origin includes minda (mind), generasi (generation), IT referring to teknologi informasi (information technoogy), ekonomi (economy), siber (cyber), and teknologi (technology).

I cannot pinpoint on whether the etymology of ‘keranamu’ in Keranamu Malaysia means for you or because of you. The reason behind the confusion is because on the first chorus, the lyrics are trying to enunciate gratitude and thankfulness and second chorus is about thing and action that we do to in building a better Malaysia.

The content of the first chorus is because of Malaysia, we get to appreciate how lucky we are to be born into this country, how successful we are right now, and how comfortable we are living. It is all because of prosperous Malaysia.

The content of the second chorus is for you, Malaysia we get back out freedom even when there are lives at stake and for Malaysia we will fight against her enemies to regain sovereignty which only Malaysia can uphold – not the colonizers.

However, I settle this case by stating that both is applicable regardless the situation. For you and because of you can be used concurrently although it refers to two different meaning – things that we get from Malaysia and things that we get for Malaysia.

3. Mood

Since the song is composed in a marching-style genre, the mood is surely happy, excited, motivational, hyped, and enthusiastic. This song gives us hope that we could achieve more in the future. Looking back at the thread of our historical timeline, we can see that we have achieved so much as a collective nation. Thus, on verse 1, it is quite melancholic as it tells us about how hard it was for our ancestors.

For verse 2 and pre-chorus, the mood is energetic as we speak about our success in nurturing successful intellectuals, professionals, and millionaires. Along with that, with the advent of cyber world, achieving Vision 2020 (popularized by Tun M) is just around the corner. The excitement of going towards of being a developed country making us pumped up.

For the choruses and outro, the repetition of ‘keranamu’ gives a patriotic and romantic nuance as it reflects the passion when we utter the word ‘keranamu’. The choruses echoes the relationship between Malaysians and Malaysia; how these two are intertwined by fate, how they are possessive towards each other, how they benefit out of the other, how both exploited the lives of each other to sustain their own, and how much they wanted to claim each other. So, the dynamics between Malaysians and Malaysia is patriotic whereby one would harm and sacrifice in order to make the other live comfortably.

4. Musical aspects

This song has a tempo of 4/4. It has a fast tempo as the beat per second (bpm) is 123 bpm. Throughout the song, a mesh of music instruments is heard which are consisting of: percussions; cak lempong (especially gereteh), gamelan (especially the metalophones like peking, saron, and slenthem), gendang, kompang, angklung, piano, and drums, strings; violin, winds; horns, trumpets, saxophones, and accordion. The song is primarily played in chord C and gradually shift between chord F and G.

In the intro of the song, we can hear the sounds of metalophones of gamelan hitting the beat of 2, 2n and 3 and kick drum hitting the beat on 4. Violin and horns is the main melody of the intro.

In verse 1 and 2, sound of getereh provide an auxiliary beat along with drum as the main percussion to provide beats. Voice is the main melody for this part. Violin, horns and piano supplements harmony in this section.

In the pre-chorus, saxophone can be heard every two beats (2n and 4n). No traditional music is present in this music section.

In the both choruses, the song gets its energetic and bubbly energy from the kompang, gendang, and drum beats. No cak lempong or gamelan is played. This part is harmonized by accordion, horns, and violin.

Between the second chorus and the repetition of verse 1, there is a music break in with no vocal or voice is singing. Sound of metalophones, kompang, gendang, and angklung makes this section a lot more flavourful and wholesome.

The song is repeated once. Just before the song ends, the outro ‘Terima kasih Malaysia’ is not being accompanied by any musical instruments. Usually when I was a kid, I used to scream this part with my friends.

5. Representation or symbolism of patriotism

Patriotism is an intangible emotion and feeling which can be deciphered and translated to and from tangible actions.

In this song, patriotism is represented in the second chorus and the outro. Although the whole song is undeniably patriotic, the first four stanzas are acted as the background and the setting of a story but they are not the story itself. It is as if compare the scenery of a painting with the subject of the painting. They are there but that is not the point. If we exclude the second chorus and the outro, we may not even consider this as a patriotic song.

In the second chorus, the lyricist conveyed the feeling of patriotism in the form of selfless act. The way Malaysians as well as our ancestors would do anything to make sure Malaysia is habitable for generations. Although it seemed that it is a one-sided effort whereby only Malaysia is giving Malaysians its resources and benefits, but when Malaysia is under attack or being tyrannically claimed by enemies, Malaysians are willing to die for Malaysia.