Negaraku is the anthem that will always be close to our hearts. Sung in Bahasa Malaysia, the song will definitely make someone shed his or her tears. However, there have been cases in the past where some individuals disrespected the national anthem and recently a viral video related to Negaraku has received tremendous criticism from Malaysians.
The video shows primary students at a vernacular school in Seremban singing the Malaysian national anthem in Mandarin. This has apparently angered a majority of Malaysians who feel that it is very disrespectful to tamper with the original version of the song which is sung in Bahasa Malaysia.
Due to the uproar, as reported by Malay Mail, the Ministry of Education has released a statement on their Facebook page, stating that they will be investigating the matter. The statement said,
“A thorough investigation into the incident is underway which has happened in several other schools. The Education Ministry will not compromise with any parties attempting to go against laws concerning the Federal Constitution, whether deliberately or not.”
Watch the full video here:
Viral pula pagi ni video lagu kebangsaan dinyanyikan di dalam Bahasa Mandarin di sebuah sekolah.Kita tak ada masalah pun dengan Bahasa Mandarin untuk diajarkan dan digunakan di Malaysia seperti yang dijamin dan termaktub di bawah Perkara 152 dalam Perlembagaan."Perkara 152. Bahasa kebangsaan.(1) Bahasa kebangsaan ialah bahasa Melayu dan hendaklah dalam tulisan yang diperuntukkan melalui undang-undang oleh Parlimen:Dengan syarat bahawa-(a) tiada seorang pun boleh dilarang atau dihalang daripada menggunakan (selain bagi maksud RASMI), atau daripada mengajarkan atau belajar, apa-apa bahasa lain; dan "Tapi kot ya pun berpada-padalah..UPDATE: Video dirakam pada 26 September 2018 di Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Ma Hwa Kampung Baru Rasah, Serembandengan alasan untuk menjadikan pelajar lebih memahami maksud lagu kebangsaan Malaysia.
Posted by Khairul Azri on Thursday, December 5, 2019
Twitter user Mutalib Uthman however, had a different perspective on the matter, pointing out that the teacher was just following a syllabus from textbooks published since 2015. In the conversation below, he also added that there are also schools that sing Negaraku in Arabic and Tamil too, justifying the song’s translations are only because of the schools’ dominant teaching language.
Hopefully the ministry can resolve this sensitive issue peacefully. What do you guys think of this matter? Should national anthems be strictly sung in its national language or can it be translated and sung in a different language for education purposes? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
Also read: Watch: Ignorant Malaysians Refuse To Stand Up For ‘Negaraku’, Netizens Enraged
