Page 644 - Proceedings Collega2023

ROLES AND POSITIONS OF MALAY AND NON-MALAY CHILDREN’S SONGS
IN IMPARTING LOCAL WISDOM AMONG MALAYSIAN FAMILIES

1
Lilisuriani ABDUL LATIF @ BAPOO*
Arina JOHARI 2
3
Nonglakasana KAMA

1,2,3 International Islamic University Malaysia, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia
1 lilisuriani@iium.edu.my
2 arinajr@iium.edu.my
3 nonglaksana@iium.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Children's songs have been used for a long time to educate and persuade children to act in the
manner expected by the society they are in. With numerous children’s songs in different languages being
made available on the internet, the relevance, and roles of Malay and non- Malay children’s songs in
Malaysian families must be explored. This qualitative study aimed to explore the willingness and reasons
for Malaysian adults to play traditional Malay, modern Malay, and non-Malay children’s songs to their
children. Perceptions of adults with different educational and economic backgrounds on the use of
traditional Malay, modern Malay, and non-Malay children’s songs were obtained through a survey with
closed and open-ended questions. Findings show that their reasons for playing Malay and non-Malay
songs are similar among the respondents despite their different educational and economic backgrounds.
Imparting local wisdom namely morals and values, however, is not the main reason for playing the
children’s songs. Appreciation and use of Malay children’s songs also have a different purpose than non-
Malay songs. It is suggested that serious efforts be made for more Malay children’s songs with community-
related knowledge and cultural traditions to be produced for young children to learn and preserve.

Keywords: Children’s songs; Malay; morals; values; level of education; income background

International Conference on Local Wisdom of the Malay Archipelago (COLLEGA 2023) Page - 631 -