Sarawak's anthem from past til now...

Prologue: It had been a tortured week with all sorts of things popping up here and there...and my soul and emotion are pretty much sapped dry until the pulp...Now, I am not exactly sure how long will I hold before my sanity really fails if this kind of vicious cycle continues...the truth is I almost broke down a couple of times and it seems like everything had hit the bottom...

I think I need help.

...Anyway, with all the negativity asides, a couple of interesting stuff happens as well but please do wait for me to rearrange my train of thought into a proper, coherent content. As for now, this is the thing that piques my interest much. So lets start with another post, people!

I had always been a big fan of trivia and geography since like, forever. It was a fond memory back then when I was just a midget in kindy that always wonders over to neighbour's house and ogling at the (albeit outdated when USSR is still around) world map hanging on their wall of their carporch, spending my time identifying name of places and flags. I always dig through my dad's old photo and postcards from time to time, asking about his experience over America. In fact, having a dad who had been an airforce technician and sent to America before for training definitely left a great impact on my interest and passion today.

The passion grew further in both primary and secondary schools. Kajian Tempatan (Primary) and Geography (Form 1-Form 3) was my favorite subject and that's the time that I manage to get my parent to buy me an atlas. Whenever I am free, I will drag out my atlas and read through it, sometimes for a couple of times. School library was a sanctuary for me, with the huge National Geography Atlas and Guinness World Record on the shelves. The only slight regret that I had is that I did not took Geography in Form 4 and 5 as I chose science stream and I had to face the stress of studies. But of course, the passion is still around...

The greatest breakthrough however, is definitely the arrival of internet to the household. Checking out trivia, looking up a country's information, their flag, their coat of arm, their national anthem, their history. Teh intarweb is the undeniably the biggest source of information of knowledge and trivia for me. In fact the information in this post are from the Internet and best of all, it's about my beloved homestate: Sarawak. To be precise, it's anthem through the age.

A good way to know a country or a place is through its national anthem as a good anthem embodies all the spirits, hardworks and the soul of people building the nation up together. It represent a piece of history and background of a nation, infused in medium of anthem. It is very intriguing to discover how different other's national anthem is but at the same time, we will appreciate the beauty of our own anthem as well. Without further, let us sit back and take short walk down the history of the land of Sarawak, through its anthem. (Credit goes to fellow groupies of I'm from Kuching and I'm cooler than you at Facebook, to be precise one of its discussion board)

Flag of Sarawak (1870-1973)

First known version: 1872-1946
Written by Ranee Margeret Brooke.

Gone forth beyond the sea to cline as yet unknown,
Where calls are made for thee to bear the sword and crown,
Advance, God speed, to save creatures in jungle deep:
God's hand shall help the brave tho' man's may rest in sleep,
Let Justice signalize, and ev'ry voice resound,
A brave man's enterprise who by the East was crowned.
Let echoing vales resound, by mountain, crag and nook,
Sing loud with joyous sound, God bless the Rajah Brooke...

Second version: 1946-1973 (Yes, we sang it even after forming Malaysia in 1963)
Fair land Sarawak

Words: F. C. Ogden
Music: Revised and arranged by GRK Freeth

Fair land Sarawak we will never cease to honour thee
And with our Loyal Sons defend your Liberty
From your high forest hills down to the open sea
May freedom ever reign, men live in unity
Proudly our flag flies high above our Country strong and free
Long may our people live in peace and Harmony.

To make this one interesting though is that Fair Land Sarawak was sung in Iban and even Malay and Chinese, reflecting the diversity of our land. Here's the Iban translation of Fair Land Sarawak.

Iban words: Umpang Ujai

Pemanah Sarawak kami selalu mri puji
Nyaga penglantang menoa, anak kami
Ari bukit,kampong ngagai tasik nyadi
Pemaik meruan, kami begempang ati
Tinggi menira bediri datas menoa kami
Gayu mensia diau ikun enggau rami

Third version: 1973-1988, during the 10th Anniversary of Sarawak in Malaysia.

Trisakti flag 1973-1988

Sarawak Bahagia

Words: Author unknown
Music: Johari Salleh (b. 1940)

Sarawak negeri ku berdaulat merdeka
Rakyatnya hidup teguh bersatu padu
Semua berazam terus berkhidmat pada negara

chorus:
Sentiasa maju pertiwi
Bahagialah tanahairku

Sarawak negeri yang kucinta kupuja
Untukmu kurela korban jiwa raga
Abadikan Sarawak ya Tuhan dalam Malaysia

And to my pleasant surprise, Sarawak Bahagia on Youtube!



Last but not least, the current version, 1988- now, during the celebration of 25th anniversary of Sarawak in Malaysia.

Sarawak flag, today.

Ibu Pertiwiku

Sarawak tanah airku
Negeriku tanah airku Sarawak
Engkaulah tanah pusakaku
Tanah tumpah darahku
Ibu pertiwiku

Rakyat hidup mesra dan bahagia
Muhibbah sentiasa
Bersatu berusaha berbakti
Untuk Sarawakku cintai

Sarawak dalam Malaysia
Aman makmur rahmat Tuhan Maha Esa
Kekal lah Sarawak bertuah
Teras perjuangan rakyat
Berjaya berdaulat

And here's Ibu Pertiwiku on Youtube:



What's the conclusion of this post? There's no other places than Sarawak. just by looking at our history alone as well as the diversity of people and life. We are uniquely different and we are proud of it.

Epilogue: Anyone feel free to ask me more about this kind of stuff! Trivia, Geography, everything *lol I am a full GEEK* And for some reason, Sarawak Bahagia sound better than Ibu Pertiwiku even though the Trisakti flag was a meh. Or even, bring back the Brooke's Flag and anthem!