"Rasa Sayang" (pronounced , literally "loving feeling") or "Rasa Sayange" is a folk song from

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...

, popular in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. The basis of "Rasa Sayang" is similar to Dondang Sayang and other Malay folk songs, which take their form from the ''

pantun ''Pantun'' ( Jawi: ) is a Malay oral poetic form used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It is generally consists of even-numbered lines and based on ABAB rhyming schemes. The shortest consists of two lines better known as the in Malay, ...

'', a traditional

ethnic Malay Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations — areas that are col ...

poetic form.

Lyrics

Because this song is in ''

'' form, for each

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...

, 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 ''

'' ;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

's "Truly Asia" tourism campaign."Folk song sparks row between Indonesia, Malaysia."
''Tourism Indonesia''. 3 October 2007. Some Indonesians have accused Malaysia of heritage theft. Indonesians argued that it is a song of the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

, and that it has appeared in early Indonesian films and recordings. 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 or ( jv, ꦫꦺꦪꦺꦴꦒ꧀) is a traditional Indonesian dance in an open arena that serves as folk entertainment, contains magical elements, the main dancer is a lion-headed person with a peacock feather decoration, plus several masked dan ...

in such adverts. 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. Malaysia in turn argued that the song is widely sung through out the

Malay archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...

, and that it belongs to people of archipelago, Malaysians and Indonesians alike. 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. Malaysian Tourism Minister Adnan Mansor stated, "It is a folk song from the

Nusantara Nusantara most commonly refers to: *Nusantara (archipelago), an Old Javanese term which initially referred to the conquered territories of the Majapahit empire, corresponding to present-day Indonesia *Nusantara (planned city), the future capital ci ...

(Malay archipelago) and we are part of the Nusantara.". The Malaysian Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage,

Rais Yatim Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in ...

, recognize that Rasa Sayange is a shared property, between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Early recordings and uses

Indonesian media reported on November 11, 2007 that an early recording of the song has been found. "Rasa Sayange" is known to have been recorded in 1962 by the

Lokananta Lokananta is the first record label of Indonesia,4th Asian Games in 1962 held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, along with other Indonesian ethnic songs such as Cheers for Joy, O Ina ni Keke, and Sengko Dainang. The song was used in a number of films before 1962. In 1959, a

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

in Malay language titled ''Rasa Sayang Eh'' was produced by Cathay Keris in Singapore. The song also appeared in the 1943 Japanese film ''

Marai no Tora is a 1943 Japanese film directed by Koga Masato. It tells the story of Tani Yutaka Yutaka Tani (谷豊 ''Tani Yutaka'', Malay: Mohd Ali bin Abdullah; November 6, 1911 – March 17, 1942) was a vigilante, local hero, and saboteur who was ...

'', which depicted the exploits of a Japanese secret agent

Tani Yutaka Yutaka Tani (谷豊 ''Tani Yutaka'', Malay: Mohd Ali bin Abdullah; November 6, 1911 – March 17, 1942) was a vigilante, local hero, and saboteur who was active in Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia). Biography He was born in Minami-ku, Fuku ...

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1954 and 1950, "Rasa Sayange" was used in the soundtracks of Indonesian films

Lewat Djam Malam ''Lewat Djam Malam'' (shown internationally as ''After the Curfew'') is a 1954 Indonesian film directed and produced by Usmar Ismail and written by Asrul Sani. Widely regarded as a classic of Indonesian cinema, the film follows an ex-soldier in ...

and

Darah dan Doa ''Darah dan Doa'' (; Indonesian for ''Blood and Prayer'', released internationally as ''The Long March'') is a 1950 Indonesian war film directed and produced by Usmar Ismail, telling the story of the Siliwangi Division and its leader Captain Sud ...

directed by

Usmar Ismail Usmar Ismail (20 March 1921 – 2 January 1971) was an Indonesian film director, author, journalist and revolutionary of Minangkabau descent. He was widely regarded as the native Indonesian pioneer of the cinema of Indonesia. Biography ...

. This song was also used earlier in a promotional film made about the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

now (

). This film, titled ''Insulinde zooals het leeft en werkt'' ( ''

Insulindia The Malay Archipelago ( Indonesian/ Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," " Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Arc ...

as It Lives and Works''), used silent footage filmed in the

in the 1920s by

Willy Mullens Willy Mullens (4 October 1880, Weesp, North Holland - 21 April 1952, The Hague) was a Dutch producer, director, and promoter of movies. He is considered to be one of the early pioneers of Dutch cinema, and one of his movies was recently elected a ...

but with sound added later, was released perhaps in 1941. The tune of "Rasa Sayang" can be heard in the film. The original footage of this film is stored in the Gedung Arsip Nasional,

and other museums. A further film also existed under the title ''Insulinde'' (1925) which was directed by Max Hauschild, but it is described as a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

. As of recently, several remixes of this song was released in

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, a video social media app.

Trivia

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

MNCTV MNCTV (legally PT MNC Televisi Indonesia,Music of Indonesia As it is a country with many different tribes and ethnic groups, the music of Indonesia ( id, Musik Indonesia) itself is also very diverse, coming in hundreds of different forms and styles. Every region have its own culture and art, and as a r ...

Music of Malaysia Music of Malaysia is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Malaysia. A great variety of genres in Malaysian music reflects the specific cultural groups within multiethnic Malaysian society: Malay, Chinese, Indian, ...

* Dondang Sayang *

Pantun ''Pantun'' ( Jawi: ) is a Malay oral poetic form used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It is generally consists of even-numbered lines and based on ABAB rhyming schemes. The shortest consists of two lines better known as the in Malay, ...

References

External links

Malaysian Tourism advertisement with a modified version of Rasa Sayang in the background

Rasa Sayange melody in a Dutch documentary

Rasa Sayang Hey in the Japanese film ''Marai no Tora'' (1943)
{{Authority control Indonesian folk songs Indonesian culture Malay culture Malaysian culture Malaysian folk songs