... but many sing it either improperly or at wrong tempo

By Ahmed Kurnia Soeriawidjaja

JAKARTA (JP): Can you sing the national anthem Indonesia Raya properly?

Most Indonesians would be indignant if asked this question and would surely answer "of course"!

But wait a minute. That may not be the case.

According to musician Addie Mulyadi Sumaatmadja, "The Indonesia Raya we often hear is improperly sung or played, and not in accordance with its original arrangement."

Mostly, he added, the song is sung or played at the wrong tempo.

According to the original arrangement, Indonesia Raya should be played with 1/16 notes, not 1/3 or even 1/8 notes as is often the case.

"As a result, we listen to an Indonesia Raya which is romantic, slow and sometimes even out of tune," Addie told The Jakarta Post as he demonstrated the correct version of the anthem.

Addie's revelation came as an irony. Amidst the exuberant mood that went with the celebration of the country's golden anniversary, it appeared that Indonesians cannot sing their national anthem properly.

"Indonesians have yet to appreciate their own national anthem. Not only do they sing it and play it incorrectly, they sometimes do not behave properly when singing or playing the song," he added.

He pointed to Americans, who are very respectful towards their national anthem. In the States, everybody sings or plays a single version of the song.

"They follow the notes and sing it with a proper attitude, which is by placing their hands on their hearts," said Addie, who spent several years there.

Similarly, the Thais show a high respect for their national anthem. According to Addie, he was quite surprised when he saw a pedicab driver in Bangkok stop his vehicle when he heard the national anthem being sung in a stadium.

"He stood at attention until the song was completed. Only then did he continue driving," he recalled.

Addie has long been intrigued by the way his fellow Indonesians sing and play Indonesia Raya. The state-owned TVRI and the other private TV stations begin broadcasting with Indonesia Raya, but none of the versions are played at the same tempo.

"No one seems to care and I have been very disappointed with this," he said.

It was his disappointment which led him to seek out the original version of the song in order to play it properly. Several months ago he visited the state-owned RRI radio station on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, where he found a copy of the original score.

"Then I discovered that the correct version of Indonesia Raya is the one played by RRI," he said.

Indonesia Raya was composed by Wage Rudolf Supratman and arranged by Jos Cleber, a Dutchman. The Indonesia Raya Committee, which was formed on Nov. 16, 1948, then declared the official version of the song. Previously, there was no uniformity in the lyrics or in the way the song had to be played.

Addie said musicians are to blame.

"It is their responsibility to defend their national anthem. Indonesians react when their flag is burned, but it is musicians who have to be in the forefront in defending Indonesia Raya," he argued.

Addie then took the initiative to play Indonesia Raya properly and correctly. For the past months he has tried to fully orchestrate the song by involving the Twilite Orchestra. The orchestra also recorded and processed the song at Capitol Records in Los Angeles.

"May be this is the first time Indonesia Raya has been fully orchestrated in a proper and correct way," he claimed.

The orchestra also recorded a number of other patriotic songs, including Bagimu Negeri.

Addie also tried to learn more about Supratman, who died on Aug. 17, 1938. He read a number of books on him and even sent a Twilite member to visit Supratman's grave and his relatives in Surabaya.

There are still mysteries surrounding Supratman. He was born on March 9, 1930, and spent a brief time before his death working as a journalist for the Sin Po newspaper (1925-1933).

Among the mysteries is his marriage to Salamah. It is not clear when they got married. Some books on him do not even mention the marriage. The location of his birthplace also remains controversial. According to his birth certificate, he was born in Jakarta, but according to his relatives, Supratman was born in Purworejo, Central Java.

Supratman first played Indonesia Raya at the closing of the Indonesian Youth Congress II, which produced the Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge) on Oct. 28, 1928, at Jl. Kramat Raya 106, Central Jakarta. The song is very similar to Rouget de L'isle's La Marseille (1922). This is probably because Supratman was greatly overwhelmed by the spirit of the French national anthem.

Supratman, who died seven years before his song was declared the national anthem on Aug. 17, 1945, received a Mahaputra Anumerta star from the government. On March 14, 1960, the Ministry of Education and Culture paid Rp 250,000 to his descendants for the copyright to the song.

Addie hopes the concert in Bogor will be a momentum for Indonesians to be more appreciative of their national anthem as well as its composer, who was jailed by the Dutch colonial government prior to his death.