''Semoga Bahagia'' is a

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

song composed by the Singaporean composer

Zubir Said Zubir Said (22 July 1907 – 16 November 1987) was a Singaporean composer most notable for composing the national anthem of his country, "Majulah Singapura" – "Onward Singapore". A self-taught musician, Zubir also worked as a score arrang ...

, who also composed ''

Majulah Singapura ""; ; ta, முன்னேறட்டும் சிங்கப்பூர் is the national anthem of the Republic of Singapore. Composed by Zubir Said in 1958 as a theme song for official functions of the City Council of Singapore ...

'', the national anthem of

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 song has been the official

Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...

song in Singapore since 1961.

History

''Semoga Bahagia'' was composed by

and targeted at students. It was first published and performed on 7 July 1957 at the

Victoria Memorial Hall The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a performing arts centre in the Central Area of Singapore, situated along Empress Place. It is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor; the oldest part of the ...

, and was eventually broadcast in Singapore and

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

as well. On 23 September 1961, the song was chosen by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

to commemorate

. All schools subsequently received a copy of the song and music teachers were sent to Beatty Secondary School for rehearsals. The song was sung by students on 23 October 1961, the first commemoration of Children's Day in Singapore. In 1974, Zubir was informed by one of his former students that the lyrics to ''Semoga Bahagia'' had been altered. Feeling that it should not have been edited without his consent, Zubir wrote an open letter to the ''New Nation'' newspaper on 25 August protesting the change, likening the act to "damaging the prestige of the original painter". He also noted that two melodic phrases had been changed and deleted, and the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

(chorus) entirely removed. His name had also been left out of the credits in the new

songsheet Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, Arabi ...

and replaced with someone else's name. In an interview with ''

Berita Harian ''BH'' (renamed on 2 July 2012; formerly known as ''Berita Harian'') is a Malay-language daily newspaper published in Malaysia owned by the New Straits Times Press. It was first published on 1 July 1957 as the first mainstream newspaper in M ...

'', Zubir called for a law that would prevent such an act in future, noting that there was no copyright for music and songs. When contacted by ''New Nation'', Charles Lazaroo from the Extra-curricular Activities Centre replied that teachers had provided feedback that non-Malay students were having trouble singing the song due to its "intricate melody", and had requested for the song be simplified. Lazaroo also stated that they had had difficulty contacting Zubir, believing he was ill. According to Zubir's daughter Rohana, the composer refused to accept the explanation as the song had been sung for many years by that point. A mediator assisted in reaching a compromise in which a repetitive verse was removed with Zubir's approval and the original lyrics reinstated, in time for the song to be taught to students that October. ''Semoga Bahagia'' is still sung annually on Children's Day in Singapore. It became the official theme song for the

Singapore Youth Festival SYF has seen the involvement of more than 30,000 students in the activities and performances each year. History The SYF was first launched on 18 July 1967 by then President of Singapore Yusof Ishak, and was initially a two-week affair involving ...

(SYF) and is also performed annually during the SYF.

Symbolism

The Malay title ''Semoga Bahagia'' has been variously translated as "Let Glory be Yours", "Glory belongs to you", and "May You Achieve Happiness". In the open letter published in 1974, Zubir wrote that some of the lyrics were intended to urge children to be progressive, healthy, knowledgeable, patriotic and respectful, amongst other similar themes.

Malay lyrics

Semoga Bahagia :Sama-sama maju ke hadapan :Pandai cari pelajaran :Jaga diri dalam kesihatan :Serta sopan santun dengan kawan-kawan :Dengan hati bersih serta suci :Sama-sama hormat dan berbudi :Jaga tingkah pemuda-pemudi :Adat dan budaya junjung tinggi :Capailah lekas cita-cita pemudi-pemuda :Supaya kita ada harga di mata dunia :Kalau kita lengah serta lupa :Hidup kita sia-sia :Jiwa besar sihat serta segar :Rajin dengan sabar tentu bahagia :Lemah lembut perangai pemudi :Cergas tangkas wataknya pemuda :Sukarela selalu berbakti :Sikap yang pembela dan berjasa :Capailah nama yang mulia pemudi-pemuda :Rajinlah supaya berjaya… Semoga Bahagia

Notes

References

External links

{{YouTube, id=OLTlSVj9CmE, title="Semoga Bahagia" - published by the Government of Singapore Singaporean songs