Sounds like it, looks like it, but it's not it

YOURSAY 'Don't worry, Rais. Just confess that you had plagiarised the Indonesian gospel song. The Christians will definitely forgive you.'

Ministry to probe N-Day song plagiarism claim 

Bangsa:Malaysia: I feel it is okay to copy the melody of ‘Serukan Nama-Nya'. What a majestic song.

After all, nothing is new under the sun. I only detest the lyrics of ‘Janji Ditepati' that do not speak well of the maturity of one particular politician who wrote them.

Changeagent: Having just listened to ‘Serukan Namanya', I must admit that it does sound uncannily similar ‘Janji Ditepati'.

Don't worry, Information Minister Rais Yatim. Just confess that you had plagiarised the Indonesian gospel song. The Christians will definitely forgive you.

Hang Babeuf: Plagiarised or not, it is just bloody awful. Everybody can recognise that obvious truth. It's a real ‘dog's breakfast'.

And it is the minister's responsibility. Not just formally but personally. After all, he wrote those appalling lyrics, that barrage of cheap sloganeering.

The human tragedy is that the guy sees himself as a polymath, a genius, a Renaissance man, but he is just a serial bungler. Others can see that but he simply can't. I feel almost sorry for him.

Wira: This reminded me of the copyright (or plagiarism) case between former Beatles member George Harrison's ‘My Sweet Lord' and ‘He's So Fine', with the latter hitting the charts roughly a decade earlier.

Harrison denied copying it, but the court found him guilty of "subconscious" plagiarism.

Whether ‘Janji ditepati' was copied from or inspired by the Indonesian gospel music would be with the ears of the discerning, if not the wisdom of the court should it go ‘My Sweet Lord' way.

The resemblance of both tunes in certain stanzas, however, is uncanny.

Changeagent: ‘Ice Ice Baby' too sounds similar to Queen's ‘Under Pressure'. I propose that the panel's terms of reference be extended to also investigate whether Vanilla Ice had committed plagiarism. This way, we can kill two birds with one stone.

Fairnessforall: I have listened to both and ‘Janji Ditepati' is clearly copied from the Indonesian song. The only difference is that ‘Serukan Namanya' is louder with kind of a rock beat while the Malaysian version is a little softer, but the tune is basically the same.
Awang Tak Selamat: If you remix these two songs, it is basically the same because they really remix well. Try yourself and have fun. What a joke!

Lim CN: Please lah, don't waste any more of our tax money investigating a lost cause. Just sing it and get over with it if you must. Enjoy your short moment of ego trip for soon you are history.

Odin: Rais and composer Jasnie Mohd Yaakub may be telling the truth when they said that the song was not a copy of the Indonesian Christian gospel song.

Note what Jasnie said: "The inspiration of the song came all of a sudden..." The answer came to me late this afternoon while standing on the top of a big hill 1,200 metres above sea level.

You see, Prophet Muhammad himself respected Jesus and believed that the latter would come down to earth just before Judgement Day as the Messiah. He taught his own followers to respect all other religions and their followers, especially Jews and Christians.

But Umno Baru and extremist groups connected to it have been persecuting Christians. We all know how.

Now, I don't believe in divine intervention, but I don't disbelieve in it either; I have an open mind on such things.

Someone up there has decided to punish Umno Baru, and caused the parties concerned (Rais & Co) to come up with a song similar to the gospel one. Think about that possibility.

Dont Equate Dogs with BN/PDRM: Are you (Rais) trying to intimidate the bloggers again by "seeking legal redress"? What does that entail anyway? Action under the new National Harmony Act?

Bumiasli: Song writing needs intelligence and imagination, not to mention a passion for good things. Does any of these people who composed or wrote the song have those qualities?

Politicians are good actors but never great song writers. So why not stick to their profession?

Bob Teoh: Listen to the chorus of both songs and decide for yourself. That's the problem when ministers try to be song writers instead of doing the job they are paid to do.

Never mind about the music, the lyrics by Rais is an insult to our nation's independence.

Justice Pao: Praised the Lord, Rais has now seen the light and subtly ‘Janji Ditepati' his promise to ‘Serukan Namanaya' in this year's Merdeka theme song. Hopefully BN and Rais will amend their ways and follow the path of righteousness!

Trublumalaysian: ‘Serukan Namanya' is indeed a spiritually uplifting and inspiring song, while ‘Janji Ditepati', with its insipid lyrics written by a sycophant, is fit for the rubbish bin.

The soul-less vocals doesn't even have one iota of commitment, to say the least.

CHKS: Go and form a panel to investigate PM Najib Razak and George Kent, form a panel to investigate the attorney-general, don't bothered to waste time on this thing. Just scrap it and replace a new song with new lyrics.

Ian2003: Looks like it... sounds like it... but it is not it... so it's okay.