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Celakanya Censorship Malaysia
by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan (31-Mar-2002) | Readers Say

The Malaysian censorship board has struck once again! Sheila on 7's latest album launch was supposed to happen simultaneously in Indonesia and Malaysia mid-last month. However certain smart-asses in our beloved freedom-of-speech-enduring (read: not) country had decided that they didn't like the way these Yogyakarta boys were using a particular word in the chorus of their new single entitled Seberapa Pantas. The album release in Malaysia was thus delayed; a blow to many impatiently waiting SO7 fans, no doubt. We then sternly advised our Indonesian buddies to have the word changed appropriately or suffer the consequences of not being able to release the 07 Des album into the Malaysian market.

Here are two lines from the song that were causing much grief on the Malaysian side:

Celakanya Hanya kaulah yang benar-benar aku tunggu...
...Celakanya Hanya kaulah yang pantas untuk kubanggakan...

The word that we apparently had a problem with was Celaka. Celaka. Celaka.

Celaka.

The use of this word is yet another reminder of how the Malaysian Malay languague usage differs from that of Indonesia's. Just a simple word makes the delay of the production and timely release of a few thousand copies of an album, a business transaction gone wasted.

What does celaka mean anyway? If you look the word up, there are several meanings for the word. According to my trusty Bahasa Melayu (Malaysia dan Indonesia) dictionary Kamus Lengkap (Penyunting Drs. Awang Sudjai Hairul and Yusoff Khan), Celaka primarily means unlucky, unfortunate, disaster (sial, malang, tidak baik), which was the implication that Eross (the song writer for Seberapa Pantas) had intended for the meaning in his lyrics. The third definition in the dictionary barulah "seruan yang menyatakan kemarahan, kekecewaan dan lain lain."

We in Malaysia consider celaka an obscene word, an insult, something along the likes of damn you, to hell with you (in other words, pegi mampus lah kau). Our reasoning for censoring the word was to supposedly discourage young SO7 fans from repeating the word when they memorize the song lyrics.

I suppose we were thinking that by doing this, we could all save our nation from succumbing to a morality downfall of our young generation. Oh, we don't want little Siti Aminah skipping down the street happily singing "Celakanya Hanya kaulah yang benar-benar aku tunggu..." We in Malaysia get to buy and sing the boring revised version of the song: "Sayangnya Hanya kaulah yang benar-benar aku tunggu..."

The SO7 boys must be grumbling about this one. Penat penat je aku recording suara aku sedap untuk lagu tu, Duta (SO7 lead singer) must be thinking. Orang Malaysia leceh betul. Tapi to be all diplomatic and all, dia orang pun kenalah tukar lirik tu or risk losing fans in Malaysia. (But then again I don't think they will lose their Malaysian fans lah, I know how SO7 fans here are. They'll do anything to grab hold of a SO7 album, even if they had to swim across Selat Melaka to Medan to go and buy the damn CD.) It just means that it will be hard to mass market the album if they ignored to change the word.

However I also hear that Malaysian artists who wish to promote their albums in Indonesia have to sometimes go through lyric-rewording changes. So I suppose it's only fair that we give Indons a hard time with this issue in particular. An eye for and eye lah.

I think the Indonesians are laughing at us about this one (I know my Indo friends in the music business are!). Kasian deh. Karena celakanya doank jadi begini? I suppose they're having a hard time thinking that celaka means anything more than misfortune, and not necessarily an insult entirely.

Of course you can't expect this "Celakanya-Sayangnya" change to not affect SO7's Seberapa Pantas video clip, can you? Everytime Duta sings "Sayangnya" for the video clip in Malaysia, takkan lah nak still reflect his lips mouthing "Celakanya" kot? So do they reshoot the video clip? Of course not, why be stupid. Just replace that part with some 3-second scene to cut out Duta's singing. Voila. Instant repackaging for Malaysian TV screens.

This recent SO7-album-release-delay incident is also another constant reminder of how teratur and conservative Malaysia is berbanding Indonesia. Duta always sports an eyebrow (alis-Indo, kening-Malay) ring, though I can't remember whether it was on his left or right. Apparently for the video clip, he took it off because he knew the clip was to be sent to Malaysia. Know why?

"Di Malaysia, laki-laki dilarang pakai anting," according to Jan Djuhana Senior A&R Director for Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia. (Source.)

My God, I forgot we are that conservative. No earrings and long hair for male artists for Malaysian public television broadcast.

Celakanya.

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WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT Celakanya Censorship Malaysia:
#51. It's not down..it has been a week and the web master is doing some changes to the web..pls be patient ok?
Posted by xpapanburukx on 5-Aug-2006, 00:40 MYT

#50. PAPANBURUK: www.lagendarock.com is not accessible. Is it down? (is it with a .com.my or just .com)
Posted by Fairy on 2-Aug-2006, 13:59 MYT

#49. Pls drop here at :www.lagendarock.com my user name in the forum is papanburuk. It's a local rock kapak base web..many of us not just rock kapak fans but also into metal, hardcore, blues and jazz..but if you lucky..some guy in the forum sell cheap cd-r of RARE malay rock collection (ripped from ori kaset tape..some of old rock tape never been sold on cd or re-issue) from mid 80's till early 90's stuff...some cool rock bands that u've never heard of such as Lipan Bara, Saxo, Medicine, D'Ryadth, Ella & The Boys, and many more...join us there if you have time....
Posted by papanburuk - Website   on 2-Aug-2006, 00:37 MYT

#48. BUAAT DUTAA TOLONG DONG GAYA LU KAYA DULU LAGI
Posted by ENJANG on 14-May-2005, 22:19 MYT

#47. yo wats up sheila geng..i think the latest album is quit good..1st side best bangat sbb bnyk lagu yg dhasilkan mngandungi lirik2 yg puitis.thanks to eross pling pnting.sumbangannya begitu menakjubkan.but 2nd side is little bit bored.walaucamnapun sheila on 7 is the best band that i have ever met.congratulation to all of you.truskan p'juangan anda tanpa klibat anton terhebat...
Posted by redzuan - Website   on 23-Dec-2004, 12:08 MYT

#46. apa benar "pejantan tangguh" diganti menjadi "pria terhebat" ??, trus gimana liriknya, kan jadi aneh dengernya.
apa benar di m'sia pejantan artinya gay/homosex ???
Posted by viki on 11-Oct-2004, 23:17 MYT

#45. hello ...
i'm curious as well to know where can i get the 'ada apa dengan cinta' s/track here in KL ... been trying to find it for ages now ... help would be greatly appreciated .. *winks*
Posted by question_girl on 2-Aug-2002, 18:29 MYT

#44. Hi.. Mana nak beli OST Ada Apa Dgn Cinta kat KL arr???
Posted by Diana on 1-Jun-2002, 22:25 MYT

#43. ahaks...tak acilah...hmm...end of this month?yeah why not? i'm serious! hehe...no clips? do u have any source to get it maybe? my gf wants it badly...
Posted by LeiF on 4-May-2002, 02:16 MYT

#42. Leif, sorry but I decided not to sell off my So7 album, got nostalgic reasons(!). But if you wanna wait till end of the month I can see if I can get another copy for you. If you are really seriouslah.

BTW to my knowledge most Indo artists dont sell VCDs of their video clips, unless of course you buy pirated ones which are usually just recorded from TV and burnt onto a VCD. You can ask around, I'll definitely get someone to snoop around for me.
Posted by Fairy on 3-May-2002, 23:38 MYT

#41. Leif email me to find out how much.
Posted by Fairy on 3-May-2002, 16:48 MYT

#40. fairy!!! how much for a cd??? do u know where to find SO7's vclips collection dvd/vcd?
Posted by LeiF on 3-May-2002, 14:02 MYT

#39. I still feel that we are being overcharged for the new Sheila on 7 here in Malaysia. Ridiculous.

My opinion on the 07 Des album? Not as great as their first album, which was more lively. This 3rd album is soo LEMOT aka LEMBAP. What's with the overusage of strings? These guys are less perky. What a disappointment. Memang patut pun lagu "Seberapa Pantas" dibuatkan lagu andalan (killer song) on this album, the one that I consider most upbeat.

But if you're a So7 fan, you definitely must add this album to your collection. If not what good is it that you call yourself a Sheilagenk, betul tak? Hehe.

BTW I have a copy of the 07 Des album to sell, any interested buyer? Indonesian version, aka the UNCENSORED one! note: sorry tak jadi jual!
Posted by Fairy on 3-May-2002, 12:09 MYT

#38. i rase lagu dalam 07 des pon ok gak..tapi sebab kita still lagi teringatkan kehebatan kisah klasik..tu yg rase cam 07 des ni kureng skit..tapi lagu dier best2...cuba dengar banyak kali..lagu tunjukkan padaku,pria kesepian,mari bercinta,trimakasih bijaksana...and lots more pon bagus...ada variety pasal semua member so7 ader lagu sendiri...anyway i beli album ni 42 bucks..dapat poster..but kalau nak yang murah..boleh beli kat carrefour..they cut down the price..$2-3 lesser than usual price.so..check it out!!
Posted by wyda on 2-May-2002, 13:50 MYT

#37. Harga album So7 di M'sia? I checked kat One Utama semalam, Jaya Jusco and Salem Powerstation: RM42.00 for CD and RM16.90 for kaset. Cekik darah! My God, what a hike up!

If you compare the new album price with their previous 2 albums, they were only selling the older albums at around RM31 for CD and RM13 for kaset. Melampau betul harga album 07 Des di sini. Apa lagi kita dapat yang censored version, kalau Indo version tak pe jugak.
Posted by Fairy on 7-Apr-2002, 14:03 MYT

#36. yeap. terpikir2. haa..ada #indomp3. so apa lagi. mk, the journey to banting was damn long, man. terasa mcm balik kampung lak. hehe *terasa sbb i yang best tido dlm keta*
Posted by Ebb on 5-Apr-2002, 22:46 MYT

#35. Can you freakin' blame us for falling asleep on the way to (crikey) Banting? We were all bored out of our eyes heading for some unknown place, almost felt Twilight Zonish there for a minute!
Posted by Fairy on 5-Apr-2002, 18:36 MYT

#34. Lovely town sampai korang bantai tidur on the way there.
Posted by MK84 on 5-Apr-2002, 17:06 MYT

#33. ebb, smart of you to get it from #indomp3. No problah pasal intro you kat SO7, lambat laun you would have picked it up yourself. Yes it was at Banting the concert. "lovely" town wouldn't you say? Hehe.
Posted by Fairy on 5-Apr-2002, 16:49 MYT

#32. oh, thanks to fai for introducing me to SO7 and to MK sebab bawak kitaorg gi tgk SO7 kat Banting dulu. err..Banting kan?
Posted by Ebb on 5-Apr-2002, 16:24 MYT

#31. manage to d/l Seberapa Pantas kat #indomp3. Original version, cd quality lagi. damn nicelah the song.
Posted by Ebb on 5-Apr-2002, 16:22 MYT

#30. hmmm..... i think the best album of so7 was still the kisah klasik (2nd album)..... i don't know why i like that album so much. i think this des 07 was different ....out from so7 style of music.... that i can said... you know.... it's more into ballads not funky - punky anymore... may be i'm just too early to accept new music from them..... what's your opinion???
Posted by afza on 5-Apr-2002, 00:38 MYT

#29. hehe, btul tu rafthah, my fren dah ade slamat down load semua lagu n burn, takyah beli, ches.

za, music so7 dlm first album n 2nd bunyi lain sikit, 1st album sounds raw, yg 2nd mcm manufactured. if u ask me my list tak banyak beza dgn list fai, tapi may be i'll add pede (frm 1st), and tunjuk satu bintang (2nd). the feel to the thrid album mcm lagu 'pagi yg menakjubkan'. tak raw sgt, tak manufactured sgt, with a touch of country (eross buat experiment la tu).

talking bout the cd store in pertama, yg i tau, slalunye kat victoria, tapi victoria tak cd indo..
Posted by ili on 4-Apr-2002, 14:05 MYT

#28. I think Za should tackle SO7 from their debut album first, so I would recommend listening to:

1. Dan (this was the song that made them a hit)
2. Anugerah Terindah Yg Pernah Ku Miliki
3. J.A.P.

Then from their 2nd album, "Kisah Klasik Untuk Masa Depan":
1. Sephia
2. Pagi yang Menakjubkan.
3. Sebuah Kisah Klasik

So7's new album called 07 Des I have not yet listened to entirely, though Seberapa Pantas is their supposedly lagu jagoan or intended hit song.
Posted by Fairy on 4-Apr-2002, 10:11 MYT

#27. hee za.. why dont u try seberapa pantas, bapak bapak(hehe dis song sounds so cute), mari bercinta, seandainya, hmm per lagi eih.. well nih my recommendation la.. beli la album yang ori.. lagi puas hati.. kan kan kan
Posted by tasia on 4-Apr-2002, 09:08 MYT

#26. hey guys is it okay to ask what your top 5 favorite S07 songs are ? sounds more like a topic in a discussion board than an article comment .. but I'm just curious y'know. btw, I'm new here .. the name's Za
Posted by Za on 4-Apr-2002, 06:57 MYT

#25. Wow, album SO7 yang baru lebih laku dari pisang goreng panas tuh, sampaikan stock di KLCC habis kering kontang! nurull sempat beli tak album tu?

haha, i'll get mine from indo lah. biar masih ada "celakanya" hahahaha.
Posted by Fairy on 3-Apr-2002, 14:47 MYT

#24. MK84: thanx so muuuch for the info

btw guys...07DES versi Oh sayangnya is now available kat salem power station KLCC..and guess what?!..dalam masa x sampai satu hari habis sume stock cd and cassette 07DES kat situ..dahsyat kan!!~ mebbe tomorrow stock baru akan sampai!!~ so better grab it fast...
Posted by nutull on 3-Apr-2002, 02:39 MYT

#23. aha..funny but true..tickel..tickle..
Posted by maya on 3-Apr-2002, 01:09 MYT

#22. Bomerang rock ballads agak ngeblues sedikit..
Posted by epigo on 2-Apr-2002, 20:40 MYT

#21. nurull, can't remember the name of the shop, but it's somewhere in the middle of Pertama. Quite big jugak the shop, they have concert/karaoke VCDs in front usually.
Posted by MK84 on 2-Apr-2002, 17:05 MYT

#20. epigo ngomong soal Boomerang CD mereka ada tuh di sini? Actually kan, rock kapak Melayu banyak yang punya image seperti group Boomerang itu (Boomerang ni heavy metal or hard rock Indo group lah jugak for those yang tak kenal). Bingung deh.

nurull, yes I remember tuh Dewa nak kena ban di Malaysia gara2 namanya Dewa. That is sooo ridiculous! Apa nak jadi dengan mentaliti Malaysia nih? Malu weh.

tasia,I pernah tengok Barney kena censor sebab the kids were singing about a pig puppet jugak. Haha. Kita takut babi! Hebat deh.


Posted by Fairy on 2-Apr-2002, 12:09 MYT

#19. teringat lah pulak.. pokemon pun almost kena ban sebab di khuatiri ada unsur unsur khinzir.. pas tuh ada somebody tanya how about miss piggy in sesame street?
Posted by tasia - Website   on 2-Apr-2002, 06:56 MYT

#18. tiba2 teringat issue group Dewa di m'sia tak lama dulu..diorang hampir2 di ban di m'sia just because of nama group diorang Dewa..yerrggg..ntah pape ntah!!

MK84: really? kat mane ek? may i know the name of the kedai..and its location??
Posted by nurull on 2-Apr-2002, 01:48 MYT

#17. ili, dun forget we can dload the mp3's n burn em to cd's *heh*

(wakil segala lanun)

jan marah fai!
Posted by Rafthah on 1-Apr-2002, 21:14 MYT

#16. no earrings, no long hairs, no tatoo hahahaha... wah Boomerang tak kan pernah kesana hahaha kan all the members long hairs, lalu pake earings dan bertatoo hahahaha berarti no tabloid rock in Msia hahahaha
Posted by epigo on 1-Apr-2002, 21:07 MYT

#15. they can snip, cut, ban and do whatever they want, but, the gov has to realise that we're not kids, there's always a way to do things. Tak versi cetak rompak, boleh beli kat indo je, plus mungkin ade record stores yg bawak straight frm indo, who knows.
Posted by ili on 1-Apr-2002, 16:44 MYT

#14. Heh... so what else is new...

If you all want to get the orignal album from Indo, there's this music shop at Pertama Kompleks that sells imported albums from US and Indo, minus the censorship. Price is rather high because they know there's demand.
Posted by MK84 on 1-Apr-2002, 14:30 MYT

#13. i was wondering as well why u guys didnt get good fridays off. now i know it hahahaha

sabar jerlah oi.
Posted by Rafthah on 1-Apr-2002, 13:49 MYT

#12. Teman-teman Indonesia ku sekalian, ketahuilah bahawa perkataan CELAKA itu adalah satu perkataan carut (insult) di sini. Jadi jangan sekali-kali ngomong Celaka sebarangan di sini, bisa ditabuk tuh sama orang!
Posted by Fairy on 1-Apr-2002, 13:40 MYT

#11. WHAT????? I just couldn't believe it!!!!!!!
Posted by Pandu on 1-Apr-2002, 12:38 MYT

#10. this is the longest they've ever wrote but it doesnt make senses at all why they do it any way.. Basiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Posted by Ryo on 1-Apr-2002, 11:47 MYT

#9. alaa.. ngengada laaa... dah camtu bahsa dorang.. so Msian kene la respek gaks... iskkk!
Posted by eLLieZ de`HearT - Website   on 1-Apr-2002, 11:14 MYT

#8. rafthah: ur right my dear...memang kadang2 nampak pihak2 tertentu tu seperti double-standard..especially bile melibatkan org/artis luar..dunno why?!~ ::sigh::

Posted by nurull on 1-Apr-2002, 11:05 MYT

#7. Iano, I forgot that we do have a statement from Menteri Penerangan about male artists not allowed to wear earrings and sport long hair on TV, so I rewrote the conclusion for this article a lil' bit.

I tell you M'sian censorship methods really suck, they treat us like kids basically.

Rafthah, I was quite shocked to hear about Malaysia's censorship of the word "Jesus" and anything implies that the characters on TV are of that religion. I just realized that Malaysia is scared of anything that remotely suggests Christianity. My realization came over the weekend when we didn't get Friday off for Good Friday (Hari Paskah), but in Indonesia everyone was awarded a holiday.

Malaysia multi-religion tolerant konon!
Posted by Fairy on 1-Apr-2002, 10:52 MYT

#6. Rafthah: You have a good point there...

I cant argue about the P.Ramlee thing

P.Ramlee movies also taught kids a number of "swear words" like mampus, kepala bapak kau, bangang, kecik kecik tak mau mampus dan lain lain lagi hehehe.....

Posted by IaNo on 1-Apr-2002, 09:48 MYT

#5. the artists in msia yang tak dibenarkan pakai anting2 n rambut panjang, i think i remember watching awie n amy i think on rtm, acara POTONG rambut wahahahaha

anyways, talking about kids, by whats being pointed out by nurul n iano, did you guys watch p ramlee movies, especially ali baba bujang lapuk, go watch that movie n tell me what word being used in that movie.

if am not wrong it was sial or celaka mention at the end of it where p ramlee was singing and his band of penyamun jadi backup haahaha

now kids like p ramlee, my nephews watch his movies over n over again and memorising his dialogue.

this is why im asking days ago in this site as well, whats the point of censoring 'celak' from the music but oh-kay for p ramlee movies? isnt this a BIT discriminating? and i find that recently while watching hum dil de chuke sanam on TV3, the part where the mum says "thanx jesus" it was blanked out!

and i start paying attn to more other programs showed on msian channels, and basically, jesus, swearings all that are being blanked out. terkejut siot.

isnt it a bit ridiculous?
Posted by Rafthah on 1-Apr-2002, 09:11 MYT

#4. Nurull: Your point is right on the money...my money that is..

A person old enough could tell whats right or wrong but a little kid might take it otherwise...I know that this is rather stretching it ...but I've a 12 year old cousin and he thinks it's cool swear AFTER joining the bandwagon of listening to EMINEM etc.

I also feel that Not Everyone can tell whats right or wrong ...I mean different people have different interpretation of the degree of rightness and wrongness....Thus it is better, in my opinion, to change the word sama sekali...

I hope that makes sense...but yeah like i said if I was a fan I'd be disappointed... jangan marah fans!
Posted by IaNo on 1-Apr-2002, 03:27 MYT

#3. wow..kewl arguments..!!~ memang at first i pon x berapa puas hati dengan tindakan pihak m'sia..but after giving a second thought on the issue..ada betul nya jugak tindakan diorang tu..sebab as we all know..fans so7 terdiri dari pelbagai peringkat umur..dari yg belum sekolah sampai la yang beranak pinak..jadi..agak kurang sesuai utk gune word 'celakanya' nya tu di sini..since the meaning of the word usually refers to sesuatu yang negative..mebbe utk peringkat umur kita masih ok lagi..tapi utk golongan kanak2 tu..rasanya memang tak sesuai sebab diorang of course belum betul2 faham dan tak dapat membezakan maksud celakanya dalam dictionary dengan word celaka dalam wording 'Seberapa Pantas' tu..
mm..just like the old saying goes...'"masuk kandang kambing mengembek..masuk kandang harimau mengaum.." lumrah dunia la tu..we need to respect their cultures and regulations..vice versa..baru bisa hidup dengan harmoni..
but personally..i prefer 'celakanya' daripada 'oh sayangnya' sebab ia lebih pantas utk menyampaikan message lagu SP..u can feel the frustration ..kan?!~ wow...panjang pulak i punye post ni...sowee ek...haks!~
Posted by nurull on 1-Apr-2002, 03:17 MYT

#2. As for the word Celakanya, that's a toughy. Personally I dont see why it's kurang sopan to have that in the song.

But Malangnya sounds better than Celakanya ...

Maybe it's not the meaing of the word but the usage of the word in Malaysia. I think you touched on that point in the article...

As for what Indonesia thinks about Malaysia, I dont think we should care about it

I hope I didnt fuel any anger among the SO7 fans Im just giving out my views as a non-fan ...Im sure If I was in your shoes, I'd be outraged with the government on this matter...

awaiting everyone's comment


Posted by IaNo on 1-Apr-2002, 03:00 MYT

#1. I think the rambut panjang and anting anting bit was set by the Kementrian Penerangan back in the early 90s.

Im not against that though... anting anting part... hehe
Posted by IaNo on 1-Apr-2002, 02:52 MYT

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