5 Patriotic Songs & Little-Known Facts About Them

5 PATRIOTIC SONGS

WE LOVE

5 PATRIOTIC SONGS

& LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT THEM

TANGGAL 31

Popularised by Sudirman

It wouldn't feel like Merdeka without this iconic tune. Tanggal 31 was made popular by Sudirman in 1982 but did you know he wasn't the original singer? It was actually written and sung by 1960s singer Ahmad CB. According to Harian Metro, the Medan, Indonesia native was so excited about the news of our country's independence, he felt immediately inspired to write the song. He then rushed from Batam to Singapore just to record it.

SETIA

Sung by Francissca Peter

Songwriter Habsah Hassan may not be officially credited for writing Setia (only Datuk Ahmad Dasilah and the late Information Minister Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat are) but her contributions are no less significant. Habsah talks about the idea behind her lyrics in a previous interview with StarLifestyle: “I was thinking about unifying the people and I thought the most important thing is being loyal to our country no matter who we are."

SEJAHTERA MALAYSIA

Sung by Fauziah Ahmad Daud, Azlina Aziz, Rohana Jalil, Elaine Kang and Desree

When actress-singer Fauziah "Ogy" Ahmad Daud was selected to sing Sejahtera Malaysia, written by the late Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, she took the job very seriously."I even sought help from my late father (popular 1960s singer and actor Datuk Ahmad Daud)," she tells Berita Harian. "I remember singing in front of him before recording at the studio. He was very detailed. He wanted to hear my pronunciation and made sure I felt every word."

JALUR GEMILANG

Written by Pak Ngah and Siso Kopratasa, Jalur Gemilang instilled within us a sense of pride for our national flag."For Jalur Gemilang and Keranamu Malaysia, we wanted songs that not only lifted the spirit but something everyone could easily sing along to," the late Pak Ngah, who also wrote Keranamu Malaysia, told Utusan. "When we presented the songs to Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir (the former Information Minister who commissioned the work to Pak Ngah), we had to change the melodies and lyrics multiple times to make sure people could immediately latch onto them."

STANDING IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD

Sung by Ella

Ella says it was an unforgettable moment in her career, performing the 1998 Commonwealth Games theme song at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, especially because former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir praised her after she stepped off stage. “No matter who you are ­­- a leader of a country, an athlete, a student, a working adult, a physically-challenged individual - it gives us hope and confidence to succeed in whatever we do," the rock singer talks about the Datuk Wah Idris and David Gates-penned song in a previous interview with StarLifestyle.