Najwa Latif—‘Sahabat’

This article describes the emotional power that 'Sahabat', by the Malaysian singer Najwa Latif, came to have for me during fieldwork with the children of refugees and migrants in the city of Kota Kinabalu. The sweet, youthful and optimistic energy of this song helped me to immerse myself in daily fieldwork trips, easing my transition from English-speaking parent to Malay-speaking fieldworker. The song also allowed me to relax and ignore the frustrations of traffic-bound urban fieldwork, as well as to soothe my frustrations with a society that excluded children who had known no other home.