This song from the Maluku/Mollucas, birthplace of my mother, , an island chain in Indonesia. It's about "Hela Rotan", known to English-speakers as the game of Tug-of-War. In many Asian nations this game that would draw two communities together for a celebration centered on a peaceable but rowdy ritual contest. The athletes of a team were synchronized by their drummer, in whose hands rested the strategy of unifying the team's traction and power. The Tifa mentioned in the song is a drum still popular in Maluku and Papua. Maluku is a place of great cultural diversity. "Hela Rotan" is considered a parable. Because it takes two teams to have a contest, the tug-of-war celebrations symbolized that competition is also cooperation. Tug-of-war is still a popular sport for adults, with much excitement for regional and national championships throughout Asia. The rope is traditionally made out of "Rotan" (ROW-tahn), the vining palm from which woven furniture and other goods are made. The word rattan is from Malays "rotan". Although rattan is harvested in many places, it is still known in some places as "Malakka", from the name "Maluku", and a favorite species employed is Calamus rotang, the Rotan or rattan palm now grown in Burma and India. HELA ROTAN (traditional Indonesian folksong) Hela, hela rotan-e rotan-e [Pulling pulling rattan rattan] Tifa Jawa [Drum Java] Jawa-e ba bunyi [Java is the sound/noise] Rotan, rotan sudah putus [Rattan, rattan, already break] Sudah putus ujung dua [Already break end/tip two] Dua bakudapa-e [Two meet each other (shake hands)] (X2) Mangga mangga muda e manis e [Mango, mango young sweet] mangga mangga [Mango mango] Datang dari Nila [Come (brought in) from (Mount) Nila] Nona nona muka manis muka manis [Miss, Miss, face sweet face sweet] bikin Sinyo [Make mister (senhor)] Sinyo jadi gila-e [mister (senhor) so crazy] (X2)
😊👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤
Than you for sing this song, the song is from East Indonesia (Mollucas Province)
This song from the Maluku/Mollucas, birthplace of my mother, , an island chain in Indonesia. It's about "Hela Rotan", known to English-speakers as the game of Tug-of-War. In many Asian nations this game that would draw two communities together for a celebration centered on a peaceable but rowdy ritual contest. The athletes of a team were synchronized by their drummer, in whose hands rested the strategy of unifying the team's traction and power. The Tifa mentioned in the song is a drum still popular in Maluku and Papua.
Maluku is a place of great cultural diversity. "Hela Rotan" is considered a parable. Because it takes two teams to have a contest, the tug-of-war celebrations symbolized that competition is also cooperation. Tug-of-war is still a popular sport for adults, with much excitement for regional and national championships throughout Asia.
The rope is traditionally made out of "Rotan" (ROW-tahn), the vining palm from which woven furniture and other goods are made. The word rattan is from Malays "rotan". Although rattan is harvested in many places, it is still known in some places as "Malakka", from the name "Maluku", and a favorite species employed is Calamus rotang, the Rotan or rattan palm now grown in Burma and India.
HELA ROTAN (traditional Indonesian folksong)
Hela, hela rotan-e rotan-e [Pulling pulling rattan rattan]
Tifa Jawa [Drum Java]
Jawa-e ba bunyi [Java is the sound/noise]
Rotan, rotan sudah putus [Rattan, rattan, already break]
Sudah putus ujung dua [Already break end/tip two]
Dua bakudapa-e [Two meet each other (shake hands)]
(X2)
Mangga mangga muda e manis e [Mango, mango young sweet]
mangga mangga [Mango mango]
Datang dari Nila [Come (brought in) from (Mount) Nila]
Nona nona muka manis muka manis [Miss, Miss, face sweet face sweet]
bikin Sinyo [Make mister (senhor)]
Sinyo jadi gila-e [mister (senhor) so crazy]
(X2)
What does Hela Rotan mean?
It loosely translates to Tug-of-War!