Mamula Moon
It’s amazing how much this song which was recorded 10 years before our country got independance sounds so much like Negaraku, our national anthem.
Download Song
The Star has a write-up on this. Here is a quote:
History has it that the Negaraku was adapted from the state anthem of Perak, which had a similar melody to the keroncong-influenced Terang Bulan, a popular song in the 1930s in Indonesia and Malaya.
It was also a familiar tune in the island of Mahe in the Seychelles where a former Perak Sultan lived in exile. A French band used to play the tune when it performed on the island.
There is, however, no record of the exact origin of the melody.
Some historians believe that a well-known 19th century French poet and composer, Pierre Jean de Beranger, wrote the music.
But there is no reference on any link to the Hawaiian Mamula Moon.
UPDATE: You can now download Terang Bulan to listen how it sounds like.
The history of how the National Anthem was composed is available here. It does not reference this Hawaiian song.
Seeing as how both Terang Bulan and Mamula Moon talk about the moon… maybe they have the same roots.
August 31, 2005 @ 1:42 pm
I feel relax and wanna to dance on the beach! It is interesting man! Happy MERDEKA!!! enjoyed!
August 31, 2005 @ 1:53 pm
I kinda like Mamula Moon… who would have thought Negaraku could sound so romantic… ^_^ I think Terang Bulan would probably sound a lot like the original Negaraku or the Perak state anthem.
August 31, 2005 @ 1:59 pm
wah, the negaraku anthem is not original maaa… just like proton cars… this is sad…
August 31, 2005 @ 2:32 pm
I heard of remix version of Terang Bulan.. Its a relaxing song and for tropical type.
August 31, 2005 @ 3:02 pm
You know how things are like and work here… trying to take others’ credentials and put it as their own… making others’ accomplishment and if no information to back up the original owner, someone would definitely own it up as theirs… imagine how badawi said to look at the accomplishment of the sheikhs and other muslims around the world… so, what about other great minds and characters??? Albert Einstein’s theories??? Sun Tzi’s Art of War??? Egyptians calculations and so on… why only muslims??? reeks of racism to me…
August 31, 2005 @ 3:24 pm
Whoa, cool! I’ve uploaded this to http://www.malaysiantime.com Makes the perfect soundtrack.
Where did you get the mp3 from anyway?
August 31, 2005 @ 4:43 pm
AlexC, don’t get it wrong… pak lah told muslims to look up at other muslims…
August 31, 2005 @ 5:24 pm
After Sultans know it, maybe some changes will be done soon!
Who knows the next version of Our National anthem will based on Micheal Jackson song…..”SMOOTH CRIMINAL”
NEGA,…NEGA…RAKU, …….NEGARAKU, TANAH ….TuMPAH DARa…H!!
MA…………..LAYSIA BOLEH!! OAU!
August 31, 2005 @ 5:41 pm
Every nie PM, new version of NEGARAKU. Ini macam kalu, mana macam mau tau….Susah la.. Just like MOE juga….New MOE new style…Budak-budak juga susah….Dia orang enjoy…
August 31, 2005 @ 6:20 pm
We Muslims don’t need to look up at the others accomplishment. What we need are ‘first world’ mentality and good reading habit(read 12 books a year at least). ……..K-economy………. (Knowledge economy)
I think the books price is so high in Malaysia because we read only 2 books annually so the demand for books is low.
SIGH…………
I need to ‘ikat perut’ at school to save some money if I want to buy my favourite Tom Clancy fictions series. Should I blame others Malaysians who don’t read books?
August 31, 2005 @ 6:31 pm
Come onlah, it’s not a big matter if our ‘Negaraku’ was’nt originally written.
I’ts just a song, right?
No, it’s a national anthem.
Moreover the best persons we can point our finger at are the people of the past who chose this song. There is no point of criticizing, just enjoy it!!!
August 31, 2005 @ 10:17 pm
agree, agree…
September 1, 2005 @ 3:26 am
Alex C: Bro, what our PM said about looking up to Muslims, was meant for the Muslims in this country. He was basically saying, if Ibnu Sina, Umar Khayyam, Ibnu Khaldun and other great Muslim thinkers could achieve so much back then, what has happened now? Where have the Muslims gone wrong? We nitpick too much on silly issues. We waste time pointing fingers at others. We have forgotten the essence of the Islamic teachings. Thus, we need to brush up and modernise ourselves. If those great minds could achieve so much back then, we can DEFINITELY do something now, in this era of modern technology and infrastructure. He was “giving it” to the Muslims la bro, not everyone else. And heck, no one in their right mind would deny the work of Einstein, Newton, Picasso, Dali, Da Vinci, Sun Tzu, Tagore, Keats, Freud, Jung, Rutherford, Curie, Edison… I could go on and on!
Bob: Bro, I have been reading your other posts and I must compliment you on being a modern, farsighted, polite and educated individual. I look forward to reading more of your posts. Keep up the good work bro!
September 1, 2005 @ 7:01 am
No issues with anyone looking at whoever for whatever reasons… just that at times you need not only restrict yourself in gaining knowledge, but look at broader perspective… i’m quite interested in religion topics myself and as non muslim i do read about muslim preaches and i seriously think its a great teaching… just that the mindset of the followers need to be broader and not just limited to the aspect that they wish to understand…
September 1, 2005 @ 10:59 am
Hahaha, this is hilarious, did not know that is based on another melody, always tot is ori. Goes to show how much we know forms our preception on the world around us. Choose to learn, learn to grow, grow and be knowledgeble!
September 1, 2005 @ 12:52 pm
Alex C: Bro, those fellas I mentioned in my earlier post were all Muslim SCHOLARS. They didn’t have much to do with preaching religion and stuff. I guess the underlying message our PM was trying to get out is, if these fellas could do it, and they were good Muslims who followed the tennets of Islam properly, why can’t you so called “modern Muslims” do it? Instead of working to increase your knowledge, do something for the betterment of all mankind, you choose to bicker, fight, kill and blame others. Another thing bro, if they can’t even follow the examples of other fellow Muslims, how do you expect them to follow non-Muslims? Cases in point:
1. Stupid idiotic students from UM protesting when the Israeli hockey team came here to play. They were promptly expelled after the incident.
Serves them right!
2. The sheer NUMBER of people who made noise when Mahathir went to visit the then pope John Paul II. Among the accusations? “Oh! He is trying to sell the country to the Christians!” What the hell?! Instead of looking at the broader picture i.e. we could benefit from their knowledge, way of thinking, resources, they could in turn benefit from our culture, historical knowledge, exports, etc. We could all work together to make this the best country in the Asian region. But no, its better to nitpick on small, stupid topics!
September 1, 2005 @ 8:09 pm
I’m speechless………
September 3, 2005 @ 4:31 am
i don think mamula moon is the original song….terang bulan is based on a melody in 19th cent, and the composer is an eurasian. perak sultan fell in love with this song when he is exppelled (buang negeri) from the state bcoz he play a part in jww birch murder so he introduced the song to perak when he came back and it became state anthem. it became a hit song back then so tunku decided to make this as national anthem….er am i correct?
September 3, 2005 @ 8:37 am
y ppl just read the above statement and believe that Negaraku copied from Memula Moon. Read also the link that paultan has put above to the history of the negaraku laa then you can get balanced info.
September 3, 2005 @ 5:54 pm
Is this…. true? Plagiarism, Negaraku, is it?
September 4, 2005 @ 12:06 am
come on man.. loads of other countries have ‘unorginal’ tunes for their national anthems..for example: the star-spangled banner was a popular folk tune way before it became the u.s. anthem
September 14, 2005 @ 10:39 pm
[quote]After Sultans know it, maybe some changes will be done soon!
Who knows the next version of Our National anthem will based on Micheal Jackson song…..â€SMOOTH CRIMINALâ€
NEGA,…NEGA…RAKU, …….NEGARAKU, TANAH ….TuMPAH DARa…H!!
MA…………..LAYSIA BOLEH!! OAU! [/quote]
Hahaha! That was funny!! XD
September 15, 2005 @ 3:41 pm
An early Happy Hari Malaysia to all.
16th September should now be more significant than any other days to Malaysian.
October 17, 2005 @ 12:37 pm
Be proud….be very proud.
Dont change what we have. To change is easy but to satisfy is hardest
October 18, 2005 @ 11:43 pm
It is an interesting fact that our national anthem is similar to Mamula Moon. There are a number of stories to the origin of our national anthem. All anak Malaysia should take interest in knowing but regardless of the origin. This will remain our National Anthem and should sing this proudly as we should.
AlexC, glad you have inquiring mind and seek to broaden yourself, but getting the facts straight and not throw more misunderstanding into the mix is a vital part of learning. Good luck.
Long Live Malaysia!!!!!!!!!!
October 28, 2005 @ 4:49 pm
however about national theme.. we still love my country forever…
November 30, 2005 @ 4:04 pm
saya suka…..
November 30, 2005 @ 4:08 pm
saya tak suka pula…