After two decades, the iconic Cuti-Cuti Malaysia song has been given a contemporary update. The second version of the song was unveiled recently by the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
Titled Menemui Semula, the song reflects current times as people begin to explore the world again after going through a devastating pandemic.
The four-minute-long track is sung by local songstress Aina Abdul and composed by Ananth Kumar with lyrics by James Boyle.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the song is part of the ministry’s efforts to boost domestic tourism in the country.
“The message we want to convey through this song is for us together to explore the country while experiencing the treasures of nature with our family,” she said during the launch of the song recently.
The ethnic pop song features a combination of world music, hip hop and electronic dance music. It incorporates traditional musical instruments such as the flute, gamelan, erhu, kompang, and drums, too.
There’s also an English version of the song titled Rediscover.
Since its release on May 17, the song has garnered positive feedback from many netizens on Tourism Malaysia’s official YouTube channel. Many of them complimented Aina’s mellifluous vocals.
“What a golden voice coming from a golden land. God bless all Malaysians,” said Hazem Hussein.
Another YouTube user said the song is the perfect travel soundtrack.
“I fell in love with the song already. Congratulations to Aina to be the chosen Malaysian golden voice to travel the world,” said Aliza Azizan.
Meanwhile, one netizen ruminated on the challenging period that the tourism industry in Malaysia has gone through amid the pandemic.
“Year 2020 should be our Visit Malaysia Year but due to Covid it was cancelled. Now it’s time for people of the world to rediscover Malaysia,” said A.A.R in the comments section.
The original Cuti-Cuti Malaysia song was released in 2002. Sung by Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, the song was applauded for its catchy tune and lyrics that reflected the uniqueness of Malaysia.
The track was composed by Datuk Ahmad Nawab Khan with lyrics written by Mesran M.Y.
Since then, the ministry has released other songs that corresponded with the respective tourism campaigns in the country. One notable release was 2014’s The Essence Of Asia by Yuna.
At five minutes long, the official promotional video for the Visit Malaysia 2014 campaign is easily an epic. Where previous videos are more upbeat and thrive on the fun factor, The Essence Of Asia is a slow-burning and cinematic clip that tugs at the heartstrings.
Along with the second version of the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia song, Nancy also unveiled the Tourism Recovery Plan 2022 at the recent event.
The plan seeks to incentivise Malaysians to travel domestically by giving discounts, vouchers and rebates.
The plan, which began on April 29, covers two clusters. They are the land transport cluster and the tourism association cluster.
On the land transport cluster, the ministry partnered with KLIA Express and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd to offer fare discounts of between RM10 and RM15. It is estimated that a total of 64,674 users will benefit from the programme.
As for the tourism association cluster, various domestic travel destination packages will be offered by registered travel agents at attractive rates.
Moving forward, the initiative will be expanded gradually to include air and accommodation clusters as well as a niche tourism cluster covering scuba diving, lodge, shopping and theme park segments.
