Selamat menyambut Hari kemerdekaan kepada semua. Saya terjumpa artikel ini bila membaca Sarawak Gazette (Warta kerajaanNegeri Sarawak). Mungkin ini dapat membantu generasi hari ini mendalami asal usul lagu negaraku.
"The tune which we now call `Negara‑Ku' has a long history and It and my sister, Raja Halijah, are probably the only two individuals alive who can trace its origin from our personal knowledge. I first remember hearing the tune in Mahe, in the Seychelles, where my father, Sultan Abdullah, of Perak was living in exile. It was played quite often by a French Band which gave public performances, every Tuesday near our house, which was close to the sea front. That was in about 1892 when I was eight years old, but my elder sister, Raja Halijah,
'Raja Aminah who was also born in the Seychelles can remember it still earlier, and says that it was so popular that it was hummed and whistled by sailors and others on the island. We both remember the tune very clearly and have no doubt that it is the same one which is now called `Negara‑Ku'.
My elder brother, Raja Chulan, came to the Seychelles on a visit several times during my father's exile and he heard the tune then. He took a fancy to the tune and taught himself to play it on the violin.
My other brother Raja Mansur, who was two years older than Raja Chulan, never came to the Seychelles, but he too was fond of music and I was told that Raja Chulan played the tune to him in Perak where Raja Mansur was appointed a Junior Officer in the Secretariat in 1883. It is probable that Raja Chulan paid one of his visits to the Seychelles in 1885 and he may well have heard the tune then and have taken it back with him to Perak.
My father was allowed to leave the Seychelles and went to live in Singapore in 1895 and I and my sister went with him. Several years before our return the tune was adopted as the Anthem of the Sultan of Perak. My nephew, Raja Kamaralzaman, son of the late Raja Mansur, can tell you how this happened".
"This is the account which I* have often heard my father, Raja Mansur, relate and it was corroborated by other reliable witnesses. Sultan Idris of Perak was invited by Queen Victoria to go to London in 1888, the year after he was proclaimed Sultan. He was accompanied by Sir Hugh Low, the British Resident of Perak and he took my father, Raja Mansur with him as his A.D.C. My father was then aged about twenty‑four. When their ship reached Southampton a representative of the British Government came on board and asked my father ‑in his capacity as the Sultan's A.D.C.‑to give him the music of the Perak State Anthem so that it could be played when His Highness was given a ceremonial welcome.
Raja Mansur thought it would be undignified to reply that Perak had as yet no State Anthem, so he decided to create one. He explained that he had not brought the music with him but he could hum or play the tune if someone could take down the notes, and when the Bandmaster arrived he hummed the music of his favourite tune from the Seychelles.
When the Bandmaster had gone ashore Raja Mansur went to the Sultan and told him what he had done and when they drove in state to Buckingham Palace he reminded the Sultan that when he heard the tune he must stand to attention himself as it was now his own State Anthem. From that day onwards Perak adopted this as its official Anthem and was probably the first Malay State to have one.
At about the time of the visit of Sultan Idris and my father to England, this tune was introduced into an Indonesian Bangsawan which was performing in Singapore. There must have been regular steamer communication between Singapore and the Seychelles at that time and this popular tune may have been brought to the Bangsawan by people travelling to and from the island, or it may have been passed on to the Bangsawan by someone in contact with Raja Chulan or Raja Mansur.
The Bangsawan was known as `Indra Zanibar' or `Wayang Kassim', and the music was called `Stambul Satu'. It was extremely popular and was later sung by other Bangsawan companies. Years later it was given the name of `Terang Bulan'.
My father, Raja Mansur confirmed the source of Negara‑Ku in my hearing on various occasions and I am satisfied that what my aunt, Raja Aminah, has recounted is correct."
*The article was first published in Malaya in History, Vol. 6, No. 1, July 1960. It is reprinted here by courtesy of the Editor, Tuan Haji Mubin Sheppard, C.M.G., J.M.N. The permission was kindly obtained for us by Mr. Tom Harrisson.‑
ED.EDITOR's NOTE
A gramophone record of Negara‑Ku was recently sent to the ,Seychelles by the Editor. It was broadcast over the Radio and was recognised without hesitation by an old resident as a tune which was popular over seventy years ago on the island.
The tune is believed to have been composed by the famous French composer and poet Beranger (1780 to 1887).
*Raja Kamaralzaman.
estrect from , The Sarawak Gazette 31March 1967 pp.62
