Kaba Ma Kyei
| English: Till the End of the World | |
|---|---|
| ကမ္ဘာမကျေ | |
 | |
National anthem of  Myanmar | |
| Lyrics | U Sein Mya Maung, 1947 |
| Music | Saya Tin, 1930[a] |
| Published | 1947 |
| Adopted | 22 September 1947 |
| Audio sample | |
U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (second verse)
| |
"Kaba Ma Kyei" (ကမ္ဘာမကျေ, [ɡəbà mə t͡ɕè], transl. "Till the End of the World"), officially the National Anthem[1] (နိုင်ငံတော်သီချင်း, lit. 'State Anthem'), is the national anthem of Myanmar. It consists of two parts; the first is a traditional Burmese style section, before transitioning into the second half, a Western-style orchestra.
A long-standing tradition is that those who sing the national anthem bow at the end, as a show of respect for the nation.
History[]
Burmese musician Saya Tin wrote and composed the anthem of the Dobama Asiayone (lit. 'We Burmans Association') in 1930.[2] It was adopted as a national anthem by anti-colonialists who refused to sing "God Save the King" during British rule in Burma, as well as by the State of Burma, a Japanese puppet state during World War II.[3]
In the lead up to Burma's independence, prominent Burmese statesman U Nu (who would later become Burma's first prime minister) asked U Sein Mya Maung to write a national anthem for their soon-to-be independent country.[4] U Sein Mya Maung used the anthem of the Dobama Asiayone as a template, keeping the song's melody but changing the lyrics. "Kaba Ma Kyei" was adopted as Burma's national anthem on 22 September 1947.[2]
On 18 June 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (the ruling military junta at the time) changed the word ဗမာ (ALA-LC: Bamā) to မြန်မာ (ALA-LC: Mranʻmā) in the lyrics of the national anthem.[5] Both words mean Burma or Myanmar, but the SLORC insisted that Bamā only referred to the Bamar people.
According to the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, the complete version of the national anthem is specified as consisting of both the traditional Burmese style and Western-style sections.[6] The complete version is usually used on domestic occasions.[7]
Lyrics[]
Burmese lyrics[]
| Burmese script[8] | MLC transcription | IPA transcription[b] |
|---|---|---|
တရားမျှတ လွတ်လပ်ခြင်းနဲ့မသွေ၊ |