Deciphering the Negarakuku code

Blogs and websites which are on the Negarakuku bandwagon;

Embracing Technology

Monkey Wong

Mahaguru58

NameWee Official blog in Chinese

Namewee on Taiwan’s News in Chinese

Politics 101

The Cicak

ShadowFox’s hideout

My Rojak Life

My Words to The World

Recently, the boy name Namewee is making wave on the Malaysian political and social scene. This guy from the southern Malaysian town of Muar has posted a controversial music video on youtube. Love him or hate him, he has been transform to some sort of superstar and is on almost every Malaysian lips ever since. The video he posted is a self made MTV and the tune is taken from our beloved national anthem, Negaraku.

Below, you can find the translated lyrics from that song which is originally in Mandarin. Anyhow, the paradox and double meaning or hidden message can only be understand by Malaysian in particular and people in this part of the world in general.

I will try to decipher it so that people from the rest of the world can understand and appreciate what Namewee try to put across. Maybe in the process, I can give the world a glimpse of our Malaysian Chinese psyche about out social and political standing in a multi ethnicity society that is Malaysia.

This is only my interpretation of the song’s lyrics and I have no way of digging into Namewee mind to know what he meant for sure. The sentences underlined are my interpretation from a view point of a Malaysian Chinese. Whereas the italics are the actual lyrics of our national anthem in Malay.

Literal translation by NICOLE FOO

Intro credits:
2007 Visit Malaysia Year Theme Song
I Love My Country
Negarakuku

[2007 has been designated as Visit Malaysia Year, millions upon billions has been spent to promote the country around the world with the hope of attracting more people to choose Malaysia as their holidays destination.

The title of the song is Negarakuku, Negara is country in Malay, ku is mine, which literally means My Country, that’s the title of our national anthem. The double ku(s) used for this title, could be just a rapper echo or it could be kuku, which is a slang for the male reproductive organ or d@#k or c#%k.]

(Repeat) Check it out, yo, yo, yo.

(Repeat) Negaraku, Negarakuku.

I love my country, only when you have a country you have a home
Only with a home then there will be me, standing here with you
Loudly singing, don’t be afraid
Even though I curse all the time

My song, is just like the durian
Tough and spiky, only
To see if you dare to open it, to look at the truth inside
It can be very stinky, it can be very fragrant
It only depends on what kind of nostrils you have.

[Country, when translated directly to Chinese is “country family/home”. The Chinese through the Confucius teaching strongly believe that a country is a home. It’s a top down approach, when you have a stable country then you can have a caring and loving family, only then the individual can thrive.

The Malaysian Chinese in general are a very timid lots, they will avoid any politically or socially sensitive topics like a plague. They only want to maintain a stable environment to live in and are afraid to voice out their grouses in public.

Durian is a type of fruit that is peculiar to the tropical Asian region. The pungent fresh is hidden behind a thick, hard and thorny shell. Most people in Malaysia love the smell while a minority, especially foreigner can’t stand the smell and will bolt when the first whiff past their nostril. Thus, Namewee used the durian as a paradox, some will hate him for this song but others will love him for it.]

Our police is called Mata
Because they have very shiny eyes
Once it’s New Year, they will be very hard working
Holding pens but they will rarely write you a receipt
Because they are thirsty, they need to drink tea
Also kopi-O, want to add sugar?
If they add sugar, their mouths will sweetly smile at you
When you are leaving
They will even go “Tata.”

[During the olden days, the enforcement officer in Malaysia is called mata-mata which can be loosely translated as “The Eyes”. When the festivals season draws near, there will be a surge in the police present on the road and every where else. Because, the government servants here only bring home a meager package every month. They will be on the look out for some sweetener which is bribe to you and me. This phenomenon is most prevalent just before the festival as they need that little extra to spend for the celebration.

When the man or lady were caught for some offences especially traffic related, the officer will walk up to you holding the compound booklet and talk very politely to you. The officer is expecting something from the offender and will normally ask: Now how? Then, the offender will plead: Can settled? Meaning we wish to settled the fine on the spot. The euphemism term for this convenience is “Tea money”, which means that we can get off the hook by buying the officer some tea. After, both parties got what they wanted. The officer pocket is enhanced with some extra cash and the offender got off relatively light, the officer will wave and said good bye which is “tata”]

Negaraku
Tanah tumpahnya darahku
Rakyat hidup bersatu dan maju.

This phenomenon, doesn’t need any improvements
Neither does it need strengthening, the police and the people work together
A cup of coffee keeps our relationship temperate
I so very suka
At least I won’t go home and receive a saman (fine or ticket)
My dad would sure be pissed
I would also kiong kan (swear word in Cantonese for “get raped”), with no car to drive
What to do, this time so very kao lat (an expression, something like aiyo)
With no car, how do I go out and play?
With no car, how do I wage “wild war”? (I don’t know what it means but I assume it has something to do with a girl)
With no car, how do I go and watch ah kua? (transvestites)
This country, I like it very much.

[The authority has embarked on a few campaigns to improve the police efficiency and to foster a closer and friendlier relationship with the people. But in actual fact, the people and the enforcement officer do have a very good working relationship as long as the clandestine activity of settling fine on the spot is still on going. A cup of coffee or any other drinks is what keep the relationship between the police officer and the people intact.

There is a perceived mutual benefit of this arrangement. The offender can get off the hook with only minimal financial lose while the officer’s pocket will be thicker with extra cash.

If the offender took his or her parent car out for a joyride, he or she don’t wish to receive a compound send to their home and later found out by the parents. Then the juvenile will be grounded. In Malaysia, we will be immobile without a car as the public transport system is not up to scratch. The car is also the best and for some the only place to get intimate with girl friend or boy friend. Without a car, the “wild war” which literally means making up at places other than a room or a house. It is almost a national pass time to drive around with a few friends and roam the street at night looking out for transvestites. Most of the transgenders will stand on the street at night soliciting for clients though most of us will just see or tease but dare not touch.]

5 in the morning
There’s even a morning call to wake me up
Sometimes a few of them will sing together
When you listen to it, it’s like a love duet
The voice ululates like an R&B song
Even though sometimes they sing until it’s out of tune
Even though sometimes they even sing until their voices break
Some sound like cockerels, but they wake up earlier than them
This way we can know the time to get ready for class and for work

[At around 5 in the morning, the mosque will start praying by piping through the prayer via loudspeaker. It is a prerequisite for every housing development to allocate a land and resources to build a building for worshipping. Some areas even have a few religious building in close proximity. As a result, you will hear prayer echoing through a large swathe of land in the cold morning with all sort of rhythm and tempo rivaling the best performance dish out by the Idols wannabe. 5am is a time when even the cockerel is still in the dream land, let alone the rest of the non early morning praying population. Anyhow, there are more and more people who will have to rise early due to the escalating amount of vehicles on our road with no other transportation mode to turn to. Besides, many families shifted to the city outskirts in search for cheaper alternative accommodation which translate into longer distance between home and office or school.]

Don’t blame, the government only takes cares of the natives
Don’t blame, we don’t receive equal care
Only this way we can prove that we Chinese are not afraid of hard work
Only this way we can train ourselves to find a solution during hard times
Don’t feel weird about their standards
Because this only shows that we are smart (or capable)
Children who are not spoilt will not be dependant
Because you see some children are still not weaned off breast-feeding.

[Malaysia is a blessed country, with plentiful natural resources, relatively stable political climate and not prone to natural disaster. In spite of the god send gift, many among the ethnic minority have a linger feeling that the nation could have been progressing much further up the economic value scale. The sticking point is always the achievement of our neighbor, the tiny weenie nation state of Singapore. The southern neighbor was split from the federation of Malaysia in 1965 and has developed from strength to strength. The developed status acquired by Singapore was because of and not despite of the fact that they have nothing in term of natural resources.

When the world is being flatten and moving at break neck speed toward a borderless community, Malaysia has not completely dismantled the wall build to protect our economy. Much worse, there are some restrictions put up to protect a certain ethnic group to much chagrin of the other minorities. The Chinese always have the feeling of being short changed by the government. In Malaysia, we practice what is essentially a one party democracy. Opposition parties exist and are allow to contest in the general election but there is no way that an alternative coalition can be form the next government. The opposition parties just don’t have the campaigning machineries and unity to mount a serious challenge. So, the mentality of the Chinese is, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know. Fearing that if and when the government is changed, their plight will be even worse rather than improved.

Whether implied or written, there are many instances of double standard in regulations and policies. The minorities, especially the Chinese feel very strongly that they are competing in an unequal playing field and have been unfairly penalized for their ethnicity. Anyhow, despite having to work doubly hard, many Chinese still succeeded in generating great wealth. Thus, the Malays majority always have the impression that all Chinese are rich, which is furthest from any truth at all.

The Chinese media even have a name for the racial favourism policy of the government, its called the “walking stick” policy which means literally that the bumiputra “children of the land” need a walking stick provided by the government just to stand up straight.

The pride of Malaysia industry that is Proton, the national car manufacturer has been suffering from financial crisis due to dwindling market share over the past few years. Ever since it inception in 1985, a great wall of Malaysia, in the form of exorbitant import taxes to out right banning of imported car has been erected to protect Proton from real competition during the infancy years. Unfortunately, the product of this protectionist policy is that Proton cannot be weaned off the breast feeding even when it enter the adolescent year. There are too many government link companies which have gone down this same path.

The only saving grace is, as shown by the turn around fortune of MAS, the national carrier, what effect competition will have on a struggling company. Instead of going under, Malaysia Airlines has been going from strength to strength and turning from red to black when Airasia, the budget airline came into the picture.]

Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta.

People who hide in government departments are even better (even more capable)
They can do everything so slowly
Even when people are queuing, are cursing stinky lelai (what’s that?)
They’re chill and unfazed
Sometimes they even bring out their kuih
They eat their nyonya kuih
More people will continue queuing up
Even when you curse stinky lelai it doesn’t matter
Because the guard at the side is dreaming
And he won’t scold you one lah.

They wrap up their heads; walk slowly and cross the road slowly
When you pass in the car you even have to let them pass first
The most important thing is to live happily; the most important thing is to live comfortably
Don’t be like the Chinese
Busy the whole day, very tough
We really cannot NOT admire this spirit”
Because this is their attitude in life.

(Attitude, attitude)

I’ve been saying good things in this song
I believe those of you who are pissed at me will like this now
The world is peaceful, and full of hope
No one is hurt, there aren’t any riots
You’re so classy, you’re so elegant
Your shit is fragrant, and you don’t curse
You guys are the most high class, every day it’s just romancing

Listening to Guang Liang Pin Guan (this local Chinese artiste)
But he already ran to Taiwan
Private school students graduate
It’s so very tough to get admitted into local universities
Actually we don’t have to get pissed about this issue
Actually this is the a very noble plan by the government
They want us to explore the world, to find new opportunities for ourselves
To learn things and come back and repay the country
This is plan is so great, I can’t quibble about it
All over the world you can see Malaysia’s children
They’re like refugees, so very shiok (expression for orgasm or high)

2007, Malaysia’s having Visit Malaysia Year
The Chinese culture is brought out and paraded
The government doesn’t even care about private school students
The certificate is thrown into the longkang (ditch), just like me

Graduated and went to Taiwan
Learned about things, and got ready to come back to repay my country
I stood on the streets of Taipei with my guitar
But my mouth still sings.

Rahmat Bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita Selamat bertakhta.

 

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