KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — With Hari Raya Aidilfitri just over a week away, celebrity Diana Danielle is already spreading the festive spirit through a new Raya song in collaboration with local rapper Francis Roman.
The light-hearted single Raya Macam Mana? is meant to be a cross-cultural Raya song that blends a recognisable festive rhythm with an upbeat tempo, while introducing some of the traditions of Hari Raya in a conversational way.
This is evident in the music video, where Roman asks about the Raya festivities while Diana explains them throughout the track. She even includes a few lines in Mandarin, further showcasing the song’s multicultural spirit.
Some of Roman’s rap verses also touch on how celebrating each other’s cultures can help uphold unity among Malaysians.
“I hope that all Malaysians can look at the internal values of this song and we purposely wanted to showcase the cross-culture elements in an obvious manner.
“We want to showcase a harmonious Malaysia — which is why in the video (you can see) a non-Chinese speaking in Mandarin while the Chinese can be seen asking about how Raya Aidilfitri is celebrated, hence why the chorus is ‘Raya Ni Macam Mana?’ (what is Raya like?) and Diana is answering those questions.
“That’s the thing I’m hoping for the most — so that we could understand that despite Malaysians being made up of different races and religions, we can still produce a harmonious Malaysia, don’t you agree?” Roman told local media during the Raya Macam Mana? press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, Diana revealed that although she has been taking Mandarin classes for the past three years, her experience recording Raya Macam Mana? has humbled her.
“This is my first time singing a Raya song where some of the lines are in Mandarin and it took me over a month to manage to sing those lines clearly.
“My warmest gratitude to my teacher Ken Ng from Kunkwan International Mandarin Centre who gave me the chance to explore another side of me and I took it as a challenge.
“Mr Ken always told me that I have to be brave and not to be shy and I have to work hard — that’s why I’m here today, because of his motivation and without it, I don’t think I would have had the capacity to do this, so thank you my lǎoshī,” Diana said.
The Imaginur actress also said she was touched by the support she received, especially from her Chinese-speaking colleagues who showed nothing but encouragement whenever she tried to speak Mandarin.
“And as a Malay, I think we too should adopt this kind of attitude when other people are trying to speak our language because the encouragement that I received (when speaking Mandarin) made it easier for me to feel accepted,” Diana said.
Diana Danielle and Francis Roman perform their single ‘Raya Macam Mana?’ ‘live’ for the first time during a press conference in conjunction with the song’s launch in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
Aside from that, 2026 is shaping up to be a big year for Raya songs. As of this week, there has been a wave of new releases by well-known local singers including Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Dayang Nurfaizah and Aisha Retno, among others.
Responding to the surge of Raya songs this year, Diana said anyone can produce their own Raya songs nowadays, which is why it is important to have a strong marketing strategy in place — especially for celebrities.
“Because we don’t want to create another song that would just get drowned out by other songs that are being put out.
“A song is still a song but we also need corporate collaborations in terms of funding and exposure to ensure that our songs have that competitive edge.
“That’s the requirement for me as a celebrity. It’s not easy to release a song and it’s not easy to remain relevant in this competitive industry,” she said.
Diana added that she does not oppose the growing number of Raya songs being released, as she believes competition in the music industry is important.
“For me, if we don’t try, we might not know the outcome.
“Because there are several Raya songs released in recent years that are still being played on local radio stations.
“As long as we have the ability and effort, we should just do it — as for how ‘evergreen’ that song could be, that is up to the listeners to decide,” she said.
