Radin Mad Primary School Choir
Ayo Mama comes from the Indonesian province Maluku. It is a children’s song, usually sung in Ambonese Malay (also known as Ambonese). This is a form of Malay that is influenced by Dutch and Portugese, and is the common spoken language among the islands of Maluku. Ambon is the capital and the most populous city in Maluku. No one is sure who or when Ayo Mama was composed. It is generally accepted to be written in the 19th century. It is a children’s song, and at one time virtually everyone in Anbon (the largest city of Maluku) could sing it. It is, however, not commonly sung today. There are several verses to the song, and while some seem to veer towards Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Indonesia, rather than Ambonese, they seem to have one thing in common : they are all written in the style of the Pantun. One characteristic of the Pantun is the first two lines have no connection whatsoever to the next two (in a four-line verse).