RAIS DENIES RIPPING OFF INDONESIAN SONG

KUALA LUMPUR : Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has denied a foreign blogger’s claims that the 2012 National Day theme song is strikingly similar in tune with a 2008 Indonesian song, saying yesterday Putrajaya would not hesitate to seek legal action over such allegations.

The anonymous Indonesian blogger had claimed the melody of the “Janji Ditepati” song was similar to “Serukan NamaNya” (Call out His name) by Jakarta-based Christian band True Worshippers.

“We unconditionally refute the blogger’s allegation and will seek legal redress if he fails to substantiate what he alleged,” Rais (picture) told the New Straits Times in a text message yesterday.

The information, communications and culture minister also condemned several members of the opposition for using the allegation to take a further swipe at the song “Janji Ditepati”.

“They (the opposition) appear to be engaging in a rushed cheap ploy via the allegation,” he said.

The Indonesian blogger had said on Monday that the composers of the National Day theme song had plagiarised from the Christian spiritual song, sparking online controversy.

Rais penned the lyrics for “Janji Ditepati”, which was composed by Jasnie Mohd Yaakub.with two other composers, Arman E Six and Aye. Jasnie has denied the similarity of the song with the Indonesian gospel song

“This song is not finalised yet. We work on the song stage by stage until the final stage. If we are approved for the final stage, then we will finalise it. The inspiration of the song came all of a sudden, (we) did not follow any songs,” Jasnie told a media conference which was also attended by Arman and Aye at the Erama records headquarters here yesterday.

Rais took to Twitter three days ago to ask the public what they thought of the song.

“What are your views on the Janji Ditepati song? On YouTube, there are more than 140,000 views. But there are those who have also given it the thumbs-down,” he tweeted.

The controversy is the latest in a series of disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia on the ownership of cultural assets.