SOUTHEAST ASIAN BLOGGERS NETWORK

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OUR NATIONAL ANTHEMS







The oldest national anthem in our region is “Lupang Hinirang” of the Philippines composed in 1898. The newest is “Patria” of Timor Leste composed in 1975.

The longest anthem is “Indonesia Raya” of Indonesia with 32 lines from 3 verses and 2 choruses. And the shortest, on the other hand, are “Allah Peliharakan Sultan” of Brunei and “Negaraku” of Malaysia, both with only 6 lines.

The only anthem sung in a non-Southeast Asian language is “Patria” of Timor Leste which is in Portuguese. There are no Tetum version (the national language) written up to this day. The Philippine anthem is the only one written in 3 official versions – Spanish, English and Filipino.

A survey of 500 people reveals that 89% of them thought that the National Anthem of Singapore is sung in Chinese – it is in fact, sung in Malay.

The only Southeast Asian anthem written by a foreigner (a European) is -- with much irony -- "Phleng Chat" of Thailand. The only country in the region that didn’t fall to colonizers has a foreigner to compose its national anthem.


More info by country here...


BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Anthem Title: الله فليهاراكن سلطن (Allah Peliharakan Sultan)
English Translation: "God Bless the Sultan"
Composer: Awang Haji Besar bin Sagap
Lyricist: Pengiran Haji Mohamed Yusuf bin Abdul Rahim
Date of Composition: 1947
Date of Adaptation: 1951 & 1984

BURMA
Anthem Title: " Kaba Ma Kyei "
English Translation: "Till the End of the World, Burma"
Composer & Lyricist: Saya Tin
Date of Composition: n/a
Date of Adaptation: 1947

CAMBODIA
Anthem Title: "Nokoreach"
English Translation: “Royal Kingdom”
Composer: Cambodian folk tune
Lyricist: Chuon Nath
Date of Composition: n/a
Date of Adaptation: 1941 & 1947

TIMOR LESTE
Anthem Title: "Pátria"
English Translation: "Fatherland"
Composer: Afonso de Araujo
Lyricist: Francisco Borja da Costa
Date of Composition: 28 November 1975
Date of Adaptation: 20 May 2002

INDONESIA
Anthem Title: “Indonesia Raya”
English Translation: “Great Indonesia”
Composer & Lyricist: Wage Rudolf Supratman
Date of Composition: 1928
Date of Adaptation: 1949

LAOS
Anthem Title: "Pheng Xat Lao"
English Translation: “National Hymn of Lao”
Composer: Dr. Thongdy Sounthonevichit
Lyricist: Dr. Thongdy Sounthonevichit (original), Sisana Sisane (new)*
Date of Composition: 1941, *1975
Date of Adaptation: 1947

MALAYSIA
Anthem Title: "Negaraku"
English Translation: "My Country"
Composer: *The tune was originally used as the state anthem of Perak
Lyricist: n/a
Date of Composition: 1957
Date of Adaptation: 1957

PHILIPPINES
Anthem Title: “Lupang Hinirang”
English Translation: “Chosen Land”
Composer: Julian Felipe
Lyricist: Jose Palma
Date of Composition: 1898 (tune), 1899 (lyrics)
Date of Adaptation: 12 June 1898
*Sung in Spanish from 1899-1918, sung in English from 1919-1940s, sung in Filipino from 1966 to present.

SINGAPORE
Anthem Title: “Majulah Singapura”
English Translation: “Onward Singapore”
Composer & Lyricist: Zubir Said
Date of Composition: 1959
Date of Adaptation: 1959

THAILAND
Anthem Title: "เพลงชาติ" ("Phleng Chat")
English Translation: “National Song”
Composer: Peter Feit (Phra Jenduriyang)
Lyricist: Luang Saranupraphan
Date of Composition: 1932
Date of Adaptation: 10 December 1939
*The only anthem played at 8.00 and 18.00 by law.

VIETNAM
Anthem Title: “Tiến Quân Ca”
English Translation: "Army March"
Composer & Lyricist: Văn Cao
Date of Composition: 1944
Date of Adaptation: 1945


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17 Comments:

Anonymous said...

No other blog on the blogosphere writes like you do.

Your passion for our region and unity is "contageous"! I hvae never felt closer and more interested with my neighbors.

Other blogs copy you, others call you names, and others just simply ignore you out of jealousy. You make other blogs look "irrelevant" and "mediocre".

May you not lose the energy. I LOVE BISEAN.

Qtheconqueror said...

Thanks for that. I checked the three versions and surprisingly, the popular Tagalog one is the one with the least similarity to the other two versions @_@. Actually, there's also a Cebuano (Bisayan) version, sung in place of the Filipino one in Cebu Province and is sanctioned by the governor. However, I don't think that this is recognized officially.

Anonymous said...

I had goose bumps with what you said Carrie. I hope this blog goes mainstream. They deserve to be noticed.

Anonymous said...

how about a distinctive se asian anthem?

Jerick said...

yeah, i agree with miss puyat. although i think it's not really copying the blog. more like getting inspiration from it. you can't blame people who write about similar interests!

Jake said...

Visitng BiSEAN has become a daily habit for me. It's the only way I can connect with my Southeast Asian brothers and sisters with whom I share common roots and the same vision...Viva los BiSEANers!

chase / chubz said...

wow.. this is very informative... thanks!

gorjess said...

i wanna hear Thailands national anthem

Anonymous said...

Hey do you guys have the Thai Anthem played by an orchestra or at least a brass band in mp3 format?

I have been looking around for it, as I got all the rest of ASEAN already, and all I could find of Thailand's online is a MIDI file.

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.

Uhmm...we'll check on that MP3 format Carlos. We'll email it to you. =)

Anonymous said...

Lotsa non Malay speaking Singaporeans don't know the meaning of their national anthem, they just memorize it....

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

Ni Hao, MischMensch...whoa! Thanks for the inputs! I see you're on a roll today. I'm all smiles. I would like you to know, it is always welcome and appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Danke dir, Pisanu

Erique Fat Owl said...

I just love the Filipino anthem. I think it's the most poetic (and dramatic) out of the 5 Southeast Asian national anthems I've heard (and understood the meaning), which is Indonesian, Singaporean, Thai, Malaysian, and Filipino. Melody-wise, I love "Negaraku", because it's exactly the same as "Terang Bulan", an oldies song popular in Indonesia and Malaysia!

Note: The melody of "Negaraku" is NOT based from "Terang Bulan". It's the other way around. This misunderstanding has caused TONS of clash and debate.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you add the music to each of the anthem???

anza said...

yeah "negaraku" was made from "terang bulan"..

in 1937, this song sung by miss Roekijah in a first indonesian movie titled "terang boelan". "lokananta records" claim have a copyright.

Anonymous said...

philippines has different version.spanish is the original version then it tranlated to english,tagalog,bisayan.

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