KUALA LUMPUR: Many young Malaysians are smitten by Indonesian rock tunes, but veteran rocker and reality show judge Datuk Hattan begs to differ.
Hattan believes there is "nothing great" about Indonesian music, and Malaysia's very own rock songs are just as good if not better.
In fact, the former Akademi Fantasia 11 principal lamented that it was easy for Indonesian songs to get airplay on Malaysian radio stations, yet it was difficult for Malaysian songs to make it to Indonesian radio stations.
"I don't idolise songs from Indonesia. They hardly play our songs on the radio. Only street musicians popularise our songs there," said Hattan in an interview with Harian Metro yesterday.
"Back in the 1980s, when Search released its hit song Isabella, the band did not get to have a concert in Jakarta. They only had a small one in Aceh later," he said.
Hattan added that if Indonesian music lovers did not "respect" Malaysian musicians, Malaysia should not pander to their whims.
"No, I'm not saying we should stay away from Indonesian music. But they should show us respect," he said.
Hattan also said that at times, Indonesian concert organisers told Malaysian artistes to sing in Bahasa Indonesia.
He felt that this was unfair, as Malaysian concert organisers never made Indonesian artistes sing in Bahasa Malaysia.
"I was once offered to sing a duet with Indonesian singer Mayangsari, but I declined because I had to sing in their language," he said.
Hattan is currently one of the three judges in the reality show Mic On! which is screened on Awesome TV. The others are Datuk Awie and Mas Idayu.
