Semiotics
Why wasn't our national anthem written by poets? We have an awesome history in literature, thought provoking sayings and witty proverbs and the best we can come out with is Negaraku? A song which the melody we took from Perak's anthem which in turn, is derived from a Sechelles aloha-palm tree skirt wearing-pineapple drinking folk song. I don't think that's good enough.So okay, Tunku didn't want any marching song-ish anthem for this peace loving country, that's good. But seriously, I'm a lyric buff and there's something quite not inspiring about our anthem. It basically just scratch the surface and didn't really go deep, explore and play with people's emotion. It's a series of one liner innit?
There's one line stating this is our country. Then, a line about how we are willing to die for it. Then a line about the people. Then 2 lines about God's blessing, 2 other for our king. Tada. A king is one man, while the people is 22 million more. Then why do we only speak briefly of these 22 million? Why just one line about 'rakyat hidup bersatu dan maju'? Isn't that a more satisfying thing for a country? To be united and progressive. Why did they summarize this two heavy subject into just one, 24 character line?
The same goes for our currency. So okay, we are a constitutional monarchy country and we need to have Tuanku Abdul Rahman's portrait there since he is our first king. But what about the other side of the paper? So we've shown the world our nice buildings; the Tugu, the Istana, the old train station, the Bank Negara, the museum, the Parlimen. Then on the next series we've printed our progress; our arts and culture, our infrastructure, our transportation, our resources. Awesome. But what about the people who've shaped and made our country into what it is today?
So here's what I think we should do next on our new series of Ringgits; celebrate the people. Maybe we could put our boys winning the Thomas Cup on our 10, some writer or journalist on our 50, Sudirman and P. Ramlee on our 5, our angkasawan (or tourist according to some) on our 100. Or we could put several people on one note. Our popculture icon on the 5, The 10 for sportspersons, the sasterawans on our 50, the big guns on the 100. Wouldn't that be cool? And what's cooler is that we leave out the politician in this series. This is about every movers and shapers except for them. Cool gile kan?
Anthems, flags (let's talk about this later), emblems and the currency is more than just a symbol of a country. It is something that is supposed to embody and inspire a country at the same time. An anthem isn't just for students to sing and adults to forget, it isn't something you play only when there's medal to be given. It should lift the spirit of the people when the tune is played. I've listened to songs long enough to understand its powers and it really is a great power to be left untouched, untapped. Why sing a so-so song when we can sing an epic?
Yeah, there are many things not really perfect about this country and the things I've written isn't that pressing next to the economy and political shit we are in now. Still, it is something worth thinking about. I fell in love with MCKK because of the semiotics, the symbols and history. The red, yellow, white and black. The pillars, the roof, the clock tower and the field. The weird name and history we attach to a simple hallway. The fact that it is my father's school. Come to think about it, the same goes for Malaysia. If I can love that small piece of land in Kuala Kangsar with a few thousand people in it, why can't I feel the same for this land of 22 million?
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- Published:
- Sunday, March 01, 2009
- by amerhadiazmi
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