National Anthem:

A sudden wave of patriotism somehow swept me and I decided to take firm action (and procastinate from my work) to "rediscover" the meaning of our beloved anthem "Majulah Singapura". ("rediscover" because I do not believe anyone has ever spent the time to explain to me what the words meant when I sang it as a child!)



Here are the lyrics from the wikipedia entry on our anthem followed by the english translation:

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

---

Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

---

Not content, of course, to just know the general meaning (sadly, unlike my mother, my mastery of Malay is close to zero), I proceeded to look at the individual words:

Majulah - Not listed in the Malay-to-English online translator (!!??!!). Am safely assuming some term that is similar in meaning to "Onward"
Mari - "come"
Kita - "us" or "we"
Rakyat - "citizen", "people", "public"
Sama - "same", "together"
Menuju - Not listed.
Bahagia - Not listed. Hmmm am I using a Bahasa Indonesia dictionary here?
Cita - Not listed. Ok, this translator sucks.
Yang - "that", "which", "who"
Mulia - "distinguished", "honorable", "noble", "respectable"
Berjaya - "succeed", "successful"
Marilah - Not listed. Am assuming a derivative form of "Mari".
Bersatu - Not listed. Assuming it has something to do with "unite".
Dengan - Not listed (!!??!!)
Semangat - "Enthusiasm", "Soul", "Spirit", "Vigor", "Zest"
Baru - "recent". At least this word, I know. Hehehe
Semua - "all"
Berseru - Not listed. Sing perhaps?

Ok, procastination over. Eventually, I hope to sing the song and remember exactly what I mean when I sing it. My memory has been fading over the years and I'm not even old yet ...