Ramli Sarip performed a heartfelt rendition of Singapore’s national anthem Majulah Singapura during one of the 2019 National Day Parade preview shows.

One version uploaded to Facebook was watched close to 400,000 times in one week.

His version took a chance with a new arrangement, and it has proven popular here:

Even before this high-definition version was uploaded online, a screen recorded version made the rounds on social media as it was hailed as a touching rendition and a milestone for the veteran musician:

Met with some criticism

But his efforts at interpreting the song his way for this 2019 NDP is not going down well with some of his fellow countrymen.

This was pointed out by Malaysia media Malay Mail, which reported that there are naysayers who are accusing Ramli of doing the song injustice, as he had supposedly covered it in a funereal way.

Malay Mail went as far as label the dissenting voices as "racist comments", by characterising the criticisms as a race issue, rather than a taste issue.

The Malay Mail headline read: "Singer Ramli Sarip the target of racist comments for ‘funeral’ version of Singapore’s national anthem 'Majulah Singapura'"

The 67-year-old rocker is beloved in Singapore and Malaysia.

Referred to as "Papa Rock", he was part of the rock group Sweet Charity until 1986.

HardwareZone forum

The target of Malay Mail's reporting is a thread on the vitriolic HardwareZone forum started on Aug. 4, which first panned Ramli's singing.

The thread read: "Changing of Tune of Majulah Singapura during National Day Parade, can this bugger be charge ?"

The forum thread starter, darksiedluv, wrote: “if you are singing it this way, we might as well half-mast the flag”.

A number of other users along with the thread starter suggested that Ramli should be arrested for violating the Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Act, as he had performed a “funeral-like” arrangement of the song.

darksiedluv also wrote that this arrangement is an embarrassment, given that the leaders of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia have been invited to Singapore to celebrate at the NDP itself on Aug. 9.

darksiedluv added in another post: "Cant imagine him singing this song in front of mahathir. I will feel embarrassed."

Most comments positive

While the majority of feedback on the HWZ forum panned the singing, negative comments could also be found on the video on Facebook, but they were very limited.

These negative comments were in the minority, with the rest overwhelmingly positive.

Plenty of other comments were quick to defend Ramli.

Many of the Facebook users who shared the video wrote that they were moved to tears by Ramli's singing.

These appreciative comments admonished listeners to notice the differences in the reinterpreted version of Majulah Singapura and to understand its emotions, even though the words might be inaccessible.

Race debate in Singapore

The national anthem of Singapore is written in Malay. "Majulah Singapura" means "Onward Singapore".

Malay Mail's reporting comes at a time when Singapore is grappling with the issue of racism.

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