HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
There were two sources in record regarding the origin of the National Anthem. One is where the song is originally the royal anthem of Perak, which also happens to be a popular song in its time called Terang Bulan. According to Tuan Haji Mustafa Albakri, Keeper of the Malay Kings’s Great Seal, the song was heard for the first time as Perak’s national song for the first time in 1901 during the coronation of King Edward VII in England.
Sultan Idris Murshidul’adzam Shah (Marhum Rahmatullah) reigned as the Sultan of Perak from 1887 to 1916. Prior to the event of the coronation of King Edward VII in 1901, Sultan Idris had gone over to England as a representative of the Malay Kings of the union of Malay states. Upon arrival at the Southampton Harbour, a protocol officer from the foreign colonial office had inquired on royal anthem for Perak. It had been a custom in England to play an accompanying anthem on the arrival of a king or the head of a state.
At the time, Perak did not have a national hymn to its name. Despite this fact, Raja Harun bin Sultan Abdullah, personal secretary to the Sultan as well as an accomplished musician did not want to lose face. He had informed the protocol officer that Perak indeed had its own anthem, but they have failed to bring the music score with them. However, he assured the officer that he can play the song from memory.
Upon hearing the explanation, the protocol officer allowed Raja Harun bin Sultan Abdullah to perform the anthem to accompany the arrival of Sultan Idris. Raja Harun then played the anthem, which is in fact the song Terang Bulan, a popular Malay folksong of that time. And thus it was for the time Terang Bulan was played in England for the first time and it had instaneously been recognized as Perak’s official anthem until it was later adapted as the Malaysian National Anthem.
Another source was cited by Raja Kamarulzaman, son of Raja Mansur who was an escort to Sultan Idris, that Terang Bulan was first adapted as the national anthem of Perak in 1888 when Sultan Idris visited London for the coronation of Queen Victoria, a year after he was crowned as a King. Upon arrival of the royal convoy in London, representatives of Queen Victoria had requested for the music scores of the royal anthem of Perak from Raja Mansur. According to the official third protocol practice, a royal or national anthem will be played as soon as the King steps into the coronation hall. To avoid embarrassment, Raja Mansur had informed the Queen’s representative that they had failed to bring the music scores with them, but if they can provide them a musician that can compose a musical piece by ear, he will then play the music by whistling, so that said musician will be able to dictate the music score.
The song that Raja Mansur whistles was a very popular song, well loved by the people of Perak. And thus the national anthem of Perak was officially played for the very time during the Crowning Ceremony of Queen Victoria in London, and the song played is Terang Bulan. Former Director of National Archive, Tuan Haji Mubin Sheppard had made a research regarding the origin of this song. He had cited sources from 2 royal sisters, Raja Aminah binti Almarhum Sultan Abdullah dan Raja Halijah binti Almarhum Sultan Abdullah as well as from Raja Kamarulzaman.
According to the two sisters, the first time they heard this song (now known as ‘Negaraku’) was at Mahe, Seychelles Isles, where their father (former Sultan of Perak, Sultan Abdullah) had remained in exile. The song was a very popular song in the island and was often played by the French Marching Band as part of their many ensemble and concert pieces for the people of the island. It was believed that the melody of the song was composed by a French musician named Pierre Jean de Beranger, who was born in France in 1780 and died in 1857.
Raja Kamarulzaman said that the song was introduced by a performer from Indonesia who was doing a show in Singapore. In a short time, the song became very popular in Singapore and was named Terang Bulan. Despite being the national anthem for Perak, this song was still played in events as entertainment. The song remained as Perak’s national anthem until it was adapted as the national anthem of Malaysia with the name ‘Negaraku’.
THE NEGARAKU SONG
By the year 1956, every state in Tanah Melayu had its own national anthem. But there had no definitive song which speaks for the whole nation. At the time, Malaya was on the brink of independence and it was only fitting that she should her own national hymn. It must also be kept in mind that the song should have a patriotic theme that would represent the whole country. Tunku Abdul Rahman who was the Chief Minister, also Minister of Internal Affairs had decided that a national anthem would be written before independence. Following this decision a committee was formed to find ways in obtaining a suitable national anthem for the soon to be independent Malaya.
Y.T.M. Tunku Abdul Rahman suggested that a national anthem songwriting competition is held. This suggestion is taken into good stride and immediately put into effect. The competition was not limited to the locals but also the whole world. The result was that 514 songs were accepted from all over the world. To choose the song that would represent the country and its people, a committee had been formed to make an informed and judicious decision.
The Committee line-up was made up of:
Chairman:
1. Y.T.M. Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Alhaj
Members:
2. Tuan Haji Mustafa Albakri, Keeper of the Seal of Malay Kings.
3. Dato’ Abdul Razak Hussein, Education Minister
4. Encik Ya’akob Latiff, Information Director
5. Encik D.S.P. Croft, Music Director, Federal Police Band.
6. Kapt. Lenthall, Music Director, Malay Soldier
7. Encik A.T. Read, Radio Broadcast Director.
This committee had done their duty to the utmost. They have analyzed each song that was received. However it was unanimously decided that out of 514 songs, there wasn’t a single one that really stood out. Therefore they had thought that perhaps a better way would be to invite several world famous composers to compose a melody fit for an anthem.
Those who were invited specially for this purpose were:
1. Benjamin Britten
2. Sir William Walton
3. Carlo Menetti dan
4. Zubir Said
They have composed and created several songs to be scrutinized by a judging panel that was formed especially for this purpose. The judging panel had decided that the songs they reviewed were of high quality but there had not been a single song that is suitable enough to be used as national anthems.
Despite the competition and song contributions from several world famous song composer, there had not been a truly satisfactory result. Therefore the Committee had made the decision to review all available anthems from each state instead. The reason behind this decision was to determine which of these songs would be truly fitting to be used as a national anthem. After assessment of each state anthem, it was generally decided that Perak State Hymn was the best and most fitting to be used as a national anthem. Therefore the song was finally used as Malaya’s National Anthem, and later, the National Anthem of Malaysian. The lyrics were written together with the judging panel, where Y.T.M Tunku Abdul Rahman was said to have made a huge contribution.
NEGARAKU (LYRICS)
NEGARAKUTANAH TUMPAHNYA DARAHKU
RAKYAT HIDUP BERSATU DAN MAJU
RAHMAT BAHAGIA TUHAN KURNIAKAN
RAJA KITA SELAMAT BERTAKHTA
RAHMAT BAHAGIA TUHAN KURNIAKAN
RAJA KITA SELAMAT BERTAKHTA
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