60 Singapore Objects

Music was a calling for the composer. Born on July 22, 1907, to a conservative Minangkabau family in Bukittinggi, Indonesia, Zubir defied his father’s disapproval of music as a career and, at 21, stowed away on a ship to Singapore to follow his passion. He landed a job with bangsawan group City Opera and became its bandleader. In 1936, he joined British record label His Master’s Voice as a recording supervisor.

• Zubir Said in his own voice

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Mr Said, could you tell us the day, describe the day when the National Anthem

was first played, on the Padang, I believe. It was, for the first time, it was for the

children choir singing on the ground at a rehearsal. And then in 1959,

the official ceremony of Singapore Merdeka. I forget the date, you can find all the data.

It was conducted also with the support of Mr Paul Abisheganaden.

So, at that time, I invited my father from Jakarta to attend the ceremony.

So, I sent my wife to Jakarta, and she brought him here to see.

Then he was, he was the guest of Mr Rajaratnam.

He was put on the top floor of the city council, sitting together with Mrs Rajaratnam.

But unfortunately, my father could not speak English, could not speak Malay, and speak

only Minangkabau, so they give only signals, gestures and so on with their hands.

But after that, after the ceremony... How old was your father then?

At that time, 101. I cannot reach it, 101. He can walk from my

place, Joo Chiat Place, he walked for prayer to the Sultan Mosque.

So, he came here. So, after the ceremony, we all went upstairs, including Othman Wok,

who was the chief of the Utusan Melayu. And all the other press also.

So then I asked my father, "What do you think now?" He said, "You are right.

I was wrong. I was too orthodox at that time." So … That he ... he said you were

proven right in pursuing a musical career? Ah, yes. So, he said now he is starting to

love music. Good. "So, what do you think of the ceremony?" "Maybe this is

the first time and the last time," he said, "Because I am now 101."

And all this was published in the Utusan Melayu, which I lost. The paper cutting lost.

So, after that, he embraced me and, of course, I am glad and sad also.

So, I got tears in my eyes. But I thank God it is all over now. So I throw...

as if I throw one stone to two birds. In the first place,

I conquered the heart of my father. Secondly, I reached the ... I’m in the top of music career.

World War II interrupted his career and he fled back to his home town. After the war, he returned to Singapore and joined Shaw Brothers studio, composing music for the golden age of Malay films.

Beyond Singapore’s National Anthem, he composed familiar favourites such as the Children’s Day classic Semoga Bahagia and swoonsome love songs like Sayang Disayang.

Musician Julian Wong’s heartfelt theatrical tribute Don’t Call Him Mr Mari Kita was first staged by Wild Rice in 2022 and restaged in 2024. Check out the soundtrack on Spotify.

• A snippet of Zubir Said’s Sayang Disayang in Don’t Call Him Mr Mari Kita

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The National Anthem of Singapore did not always sound the way it does now. The first version was written in 1958 at the request of then deputy mayor of the City Council of Singapore, Mr Ong Pang Boon. Mr Ong wanted a theme song for the council’s functions. Zubir wrote the music and lyrics in two weeks and the song debuted on Sept 6, 1958, as the finale of a concert celebrating the reopening of the Victoria Theatre. Listen to the Orchestra of the Music Makers’ take on the original version here.

• The Original Majulah Singapura