BY SAMUEL KARUNIA KORNO
KUCHING: West Malaysian content creator Mohd Zabadi Raihan Rosli, also known as ‘Han Budak Cina’, has recently released his latest single in the Iban language titled ‘Sulu oh Sulu’.
Interestingly, the Negeri Sembilan-born Raihan said that he aspires to promote the Iban language to all Malaysians through the song.
Raihan, 36, shared that throughout his career, this is his first-ever song sung in Iban.
“It was a new challenge for me because I never knew about the Iban language but I was intrigued to know more about it from my friends who were from Sarawak.
“Sarawak is really unique and I have always dreamt of exploring the Iban language which needs to be featured so that more people get to know the Iban language, especially in West Malaysia.”
He said this at a press conference for the launch of the official music video ‘Sulu oh Sulu’ by ‘Han Budak Cina’ at Waterfront Hotel on Friday (May 17).
When asked about what inspired him to make a song in Iban, Raihan said it was the intriguing cultures and languages of Sarawak.
“My friend Kimi (Kimi Tomas, Mrs Global Asian 2023) was the one who helped me a lot to make this song possible in Sarawak.”
He added that there were challenges in the process of making the song where the language was foreign to him but he took the challenge and got an Iban language teacher who guided him throughout the recording period.
“I managed to get the rhythm and melody but the language was challenging to get through.
“Thanks to my language teacher who guided me with the language and I managed to finish the recording within two hours.”
Raihan said he first heard of an Iban song called ‘Redak Seribu’ by popular Iban rock band, Masterpiece, which motivated him to sing in Iban.
“That song (‘Redak Seribu’ by Masterpiece) gave me the idea to make my own Iban song and now I am happy to achieve that dream through the ‘Sulu Oh Sulu’ song.”
He added that the song features genres such as fast rock, ‘dangdut’ and Sape elements that were included to attract listeners to dance happily.
“We know that Sarawakians like to dance, so I personally asked that the song fulfils the concept, while maintaining the uniqueness of Sarawak songs and applying Sape music.”
Raihan further expresses his gratitude to the music production, his language teacher and his friends for their support.
“I wish to make more collaborations with local singers and musicians here and produce more Iban songs in the future.”
‘Sulu Oh Sulu’, which released on May 6, has around 7,000 viewers and 286 likes on YouTube.
