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

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...

, popular in

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

In Indonesia

Rasa Sayange is an

Ambonese Malay Ambonese Malay or simply Ambonese is a Malay-based creole language spoken on Ambon Island in the Maluku Islands of Eastern Indonesia. It was first brought by traders from Western Indonesia, then developed when the Dutch Empire colonised the M ...

folk song, a Malay creole originating from

Maluku Maluku may refer to: Places * Maluku Islands, an archipelago that is part of Indonesia ** List of the Maluku Islands * Maluku (province), a province of Indonesia comprising the central and southern parts of the archipelago * North Maluku, a provin ...

, specifically Ambon. It's widely believed that Rasa Sayange was written by a

Moluccan Moluccans are the Melanesian-Austronesian and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas). The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provinces of ...

teacher born in 1907 by the name of Paulus Pea. Lyrics from every rendition of the song varies, but every rendition song always starts with the initial refrain of ''rasa sayange'', another more modern variant with an additional

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

verse goes as follows:

In Malaysia

Rasa Sayang (also known as "Rasa Sayang Hey") is a Malay folk song. It's widely believed that the song originates from 15th century

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

, some claimed it to be influneced by

Peranakans The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

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

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

'', a traditional

ethnic Malay Malays ( ; , Jawi: ) are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries ...

poetic form. Being a ''

'', for each

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

, there are no relevance of the first two lines to the message conveyed by the last two except to provide the base rhyming scheme. There are a number of versions of the lyrics of "Rasa Sayang", but it almost always starts with the initial refrain.

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. ''Tourism Indonesia''. 3 October 2007. Some Indonesians have accused Malaysia of heritage theft. Indonesian news sites reported that it is a song of the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

, 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 () is a traditional Indonesian dance in an open arena that serves as folk entertainment and contains some magical elements. The main dancer is a lion-headed person with a peacock feather decoration, accompanied by several masked dancers and ...

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 throughout the

, and that it belongs to the people of the 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 (Malay Archipelago) and we are part of the Nusantara.". The Malaysian Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage,

Rais Yatim Rais bin Yatim ( Jawi: رئيس بن يتيم; born 16 April 1942) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as the 18th President of the Dewan Negara from September 2020 to June 2023, 8th Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan from 1978 t ...

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

Early recordings and uses

Indonesian media reported on 11 November 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 (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, 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 The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

in Malay language titled ''Rasa Sayang Eh'' was produced by

Cathay Keris Cathay ( ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from ''China'', which w ...

in Singapore. The song also appeared in the 1943 Japanese film '' Marai no Tora'', which depicted the exploits of a Japanese secret agent Tani Yutaka in

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Lewat Djam Malam ''After the Curfew'' (Indonesian: ''Lewat Djam Malam'') 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 his vigilante ...

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 Su ...

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 is widely regarded as the native Indonesian pioneer of the cinema of Indonesia. Biography Ismail ...

. 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 (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(now

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

Insulindia The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...

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 ...

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 without 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, w ...

. In 1959, the Cantonese version of this song came out as a song from the film The Merdeka Bridge featuring Patricia Lam Fung (林鳳), but was actually sung by Chan Wai-ling 陳慧玲(also known as Chan Fung-sin 陳鳯仙), namely 任你抱我 (You Can Hug Me Whenever You Want); the lyricist was Ng Yat-siu 吳一嘯. In 1970, the song recorded in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

but retains "Rasa Sayange" () by Taiwanese singer

Teresa Teng Teng Li-Chun ( zh, t=鄧麗君, s=, p=Dèng Lìjūn; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, television personality, musician, and philanthropist. Referred to by some as the "Honorific nicknames i ...

. The song "Rasa Sayang" was chosen as one of the background songs for a British documentary film in Malaya in 1938, known as FIVE FACES." This is the earliest recorded version of the song "Rasa Sayang."

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 Malay culture Culture of Malaysia Malaysian folk songs Culture of Indonesia Indonesian folk songs Songs in Malay