TANAK KAMPUNG LYRICS PORTRAYS KADAZANDUSUN PEOPLE DEFEATIST

I was curious of what the main menu of today’s newspaper portrays when I bought it this morning. It has to wait as I read through the front page of the newspaper of where ex minister break his fast from food with bread and honey. He was fasting for the past week or so to dispute the government to reinstate his pension and the biased towards his race for employment, scholarship and many other issues.

The article quoted a public figure commenting a very popular song entitled Tanak Kampung (Village Boy) penned and sung by Jimmy Palikat. He commented that the wordings are a bit worrying since the ‘individual’ referred to in the song is portrayed as a defeatists and has resigned to the fact that he was poor.

I defer to the views made as it is only a song and any wording or lyrics penned was just a way to attract the attention of listeners to the song. If we listen and understand the wording carefully we will find the ‘individual’ mentioned in the song does not want his girlfriend to marry him and suffer later with his village life.

Though his view regarding the song without motivational elements it doesn’t reflect the character of its people or a step backward for the promotion of the local music industry especially Kadazandusun songs. The singer should be commended as he become popular through his entertaining songs through hard work compared to reality singers who instantly become popular after the reality show ended.

Disregard all negative comments for what is most important thing to survive in this industry (local music) is to look for the type of music gentre most like by the peolple. It is alright to maintain your style of music or lyrics as long as the majority of the people appreciate your songs.