Time to tweak the anthem
According to media reports, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian felt that the phrase “for we are young and free” in Australia’s national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, ignored tens of thousands of years of Aborigine culture and heritage. As her view found support among Aborigines and political leaders, the lyrics were changed on Friday to “for we are one and free.”
Australia is not the only country that has changed the lyrics of their national anthem. After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advocated changes to his nation’s anthem, O Canada, to promote gender equality, the lyrics were changed in 2018, from “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”
Another country that has made changes to its national anthem is Mongolia, which in 1991 removed praise for Vladimir Lenin; Joseph Stalin; Damdin Sukhbaatar, a founding member of the Mongolian People’s Party; and Khorloogiin Choibalsan, leader of Mongolia from the 1930s to 1950s.
The Mongolian parliament in July 2006 made another change to the lyrics to commemorate Genghis Khan, and that version is still in use today.
It is difficult to understand why no politician in Taiwan, where the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) anthem remains the national anthem, is willing to call for a change.
Chang Hui-ho
New Taipei City
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