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Synopsis :

The programme looks at the heated debate between Indonesia and Malaysia on the origin of 'Rasa Sayang', a popular folksong in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The controversy came to a head in 2007 after Malaysia used the song for a tourism campaign to mark its 50th year of independence. James Sunda, President of the Indonesian Copyright Association says that the song originated from the Moluccas islands. As such, it should only be used by getting Indonesia's permission in accordance with copyright laws. Dr Joe Peters, an ethnomusicologist in Singapore argues that the song dates back to a time when Indonesia and Malaysia were not separate entities, but part of Nusantara. Although its first appearance in printed form had sounds which the Dutch colonisers of Indonesia used in their alphabet, modern Southeast Asia has no documentation of its musical heritage. Therefore, neither Malaysia nor Indonesia can lay sole claim to it. Dr Peters  says that composers like Singapore's Dick Lee have created their own interpretations of the song and suggests that Rasa Sayang can be  part of a common pool of songs from ASEAN.