Malaysian composer, producer and vocalist Lav Looi releases a new vocal rendition of Standing In The Eyes Of The World on 16 September 2026, coinciding with Malaysia Day. The release features violin by her brother, Martin Looi.
Lav originally produced and arranged the instrumental version for Martin’s Velvet Alibi album, which received Silver Medals in the Violin Pop and Album categories at the 2026 Global Music Awards.
While living in Spain, Lav revisited the song for Merdeka and initially recorded only a short section to post on Instagram.
“At first I thought, okay, I’ll just record this little section for Merdeka and share it on social media,” Lav says. “Then once I finished it, I thought, why not finish the whole song and release it for Malaysia Day?”
The full rendition retains the instrumental Lav originally produced for Velvet Alibi, replacing Martin’s lead violin with Lav’s vocal performance and adding new vocal arrangements, layered harmonies and additional vocal production. The track opens in a softer pop setting built around piano, guitar, finger snaps and shaker before expanding into a larger, rock-influenced second half, closing with Malaysian-inspired percussion and traditional instrumental textures.
For Lav, releasing the song from Spain also became a way of feeling closer to home and expressing the sense of Malaysian identity that has become more pronounced while living abroad.
Standing In The Eyes Of The World was originally made famous by Ella, with music by Wah Idris and David Gates and lyrics by Habsah Hassan.
