Malay Film Song Composers of Yesteryear
Do you know who composed the unforgettable Malay film songs such as “Sayang di Sayang”, “Gurindam Jiwa”, and “Pahlawanku” in the 1950s and 1960s? Senior Librarian Leng Foong introduces some of the creators whose music pulled at people’s heartstrings during the golden age of Malay cinema.
Malay Film Songs of Yesteryear
When I was a child, I would occasionally watch old Malay movie reruns on TV. The one I remember most vividly is Pontianak, particularly the scene where a beautiful “woman” was transformed into a horrific monster when a nail was removed from her neck.
Little did the then unschooled me know that films such as Pontianak marked a significant part of Singapore’s film production history, often referred to as the golden age of Malay cinema.
A big draw of these films were their memorable songs, some of which have since become evergreen classics. The film industry in Singapore then was dominated by two production companies, Malay Film Productions (MFP) and Cathay-Keris. When it came to adding the soundtrack to the films they produced, MFP was regarded to be more “commercial” when compared to Cathay-Keris’s more traditional Malay musical themes. In fact, Cathay-Keris was the only Malay film production company that commissioned original scoring.¹ A number of composers were key to this complementing factor and I will be highlighting some of them here.
Composers from Shaw Brothers’ Malay Film Productions (MFP)
No discussion about Singapore’s golden age of Malay cinema would be complete without mentioning P. Ramlee.
I first became aware of P. Ramlee’s prominence in Singapore’s Malay film scene at an exhibition at the National Museum some years ago. I remember being pleasantly enchanted by P Ramlee sweetly and earnestly serenading his love interest.
Scouted by Shaw’s film director B. S. Rajhans, P. Ramlee came to Singapore in 1948 and joined MFP, starting out as a playback singer before becoming an actor. He soon established himself as a multi-talented artiste, acting, singing, composing and directing, becoming MFP’s most bankable and valuable asset.²
Ramlee wrote songs that appealed to listeners by improvising popular and familiar tunes into a whole new composition. One such song was “Getaran jiwa”, where he improvised the intro from a familiar Chinese song 《不了情》 (listen to the two intros and you can easily hear the similarity). Getaran Jiwa was eventually used as the theme song for his film Antara Dua Derajat.³
Most of his songs can generally be grouped into three categories: comedy, ballad and advice-giving.⁴ In total, Ramlee is believed to have composed about 250 songs. He moved to Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka Studio in 1964 and died in 1973.⁵ You can check out more of his memorable works via the compilation Lagu2 dari filem P. Ramlee.
Preview of music available remotely via NL Online
Besides P. Ramlee, MFP also had three other composers who produced its film songs, namely Osman Ahmad, Yusof B and Kassim Masdor.
Born in Singapore, Osman Ahmad was the younger brother of Ahmad Patek who wrote Di Tanjong Katong. In the 1930s, he joined the bangsawan troupe, the Royal Star Opera, and later set up his own called Madam Bangsawan. After the Japanese Occupation, he joined MFP in 1948 and later became its music director, replacing Zubir Said who left to join Cathay-Keris. As music director, he was in charge of composing theme songs and accompaniment music for about 40 movies. He wrote hundreds of songs, a popular one was Malam ku Bermimpi sung by P. Ramlee and Saloma. He died at home in 1964.⁶
Yusof B (Yusof bin Blugok) began his musical career as a musician at Happy World. He played with a band, Orkes Melayu Teruna, and later joined the Pancaragam Muda Keronchong Party where he began composing songs. After the Japanese Occupation, he continued to play at nightclubs until he joined Osman Ahmad at MFP in 1948. He wrote many songs together with Osman for the movies, and was also the resident saxophonist in MFP’s films. Many songs became hits, including Pahlawanku from the film Juwita and Tari tualang tiga from the film Sumpah Orang Minyak.⁷
Kassim Masdor started off as a clerk at MFP. Encouraged by the other composers at the studio and mentored by P. Ramlee, he became a songwriter and was recognised as a good arranger and composer by the mid-1950s. After P. Ramlee left MFP for Merdeka Studio, Kassim became Yusof B’s assistant. Darah Muda is one of the songs from the 1963 film of the same name, his first film song. Subsequently, Kassim became a producer, arranger and composer for EMI from 1969 to 1974 after Shaw closed its studio, and also opened his own recording company SENADA in the 1970s. You can say he was an instrumental figure for Malay popular music in Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s, writing many songs for singers like Ahmad Daud, Kartina Dahari and Sanisah Huri.⁸
Another notable film music composer during this time was Zubir Said, who wrote Singapore’s national anthem Majulah Singapura. Zubir Said initially joined MFP as a freelance composer in 1948 and became its orchestra conductor in 1949. His popular Sayang di Sayang was used in the MFP film Racun Dunia, originally sung by Miss Rubiah. It was later covered by Kartina Dahari who made it popular again in the early 1970s. In 1953, he joined the Cathay-Keris Studios , another major player in the industry, and was its music director until 1964.⁹ There, he was given the liberty to experiment, and he enjoyed the challenge of creating background and mood music as opposed to his time at MFP, where only Malay songs (happy or sad) were required. He drew reference from his Minangkabau heritage, incorporating keroncong and bangsawan sounds, while infusing his music with various cultural elements, mixing traditional music systems with Western styles.¹⁰
One popular song from his time at Cathay-Keris was Setangkai Kembang Melati, a love duet from its first Malay film Buloh Perindu (1953). Many of his songs and music were also acclaimed, including that for Jula Juli Bintang Tiga (1959) and Dang Anom (1962), which won the awards Best Film Portraying Traditions and Folk Music at the 6th Asian Film Festival, and Best Folk songs and Dances at the 9th Asian Film Festival respectively.¹¹
The National Library has a selection of scores, writings and even teaching notes by Zubir Said in our collection. These were digitised from the originals that were donated to Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts by his family.
When Zubir Said retired from Cathay-Keris in 1964, Wandly Yazid, his colleague and pupil, replaced him as the music director. Hailing from Sumatra, Wandly’s earliest involvement in composing film songs was for one of Singapore’s early film companies, Nusantara Film Studio. At Cathay-Keris, he composed and arranged both songs and background music for many classic films, including the evergreen Gurindam Jiwa, a melancholic asli (traditional) tune for the film of the same title. Aside from composing songs for films, Wandly had many other music engagements; he formed music ensembles, performed at clubs, and was even a violinist with the former Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He also established his own record company in the 1960s, and composed and arranged songs for Radio and Television Singapore (RTS) in the 1970s.¹²
Even though I do not understand Malay, I can’t help but to tari (dance) along with the music. Head down to the libraries to listen to the tracks in full, and/or view some of the old Malay classics at the National Library.
Leng Foong is a Senior Librarian with the National Library. She is part of the Arts team and oversees the performing arts collection, with special focus on Singapore’s arts heritage.
[1] Adil Johan, Cosmopolitan Intimacies: Malay Film Music of the Independence Era (Singapore: NUS Press, 2018), 12, 122–123. (Call no. RSING 781.542095957 ADI)
[2] James Harding and Ahmad Sarji, P Ramlee: The Bright Star (Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications, 2002), 14–15, 21–29, 36–41. (Call no. RSING 791.43028092 HAR); Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika: Malaya’s Early Music Scene (Singapore: Azlan Mohamed Said, 2013), 152–153. (Call no. RSING 780.899928 AZL)
[3] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 152.
[4] M. Sahibullah, “In Memory of P. Ramlee,” Straits Times, 20 March 1984, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
[5] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 153; “Malay Movie Idol Ramlee Dies After Heart Attack,” Straits Times, 30 May 1973, 17. (From NewspaperSG)
[6] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 64, 70; Mohd Raman Daud, ed. 7 Magnificent Composers (Singapore: PERKAMUS, 2002), 40–41. (Call no. RSING Malay 780.92 TUJ)
[7] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 68; Mohd Raman Daud, 7 Magnificent Composers, 60.
[8] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 198–199; Mohd Raman Daud, 7 Magnificent Composers, 176–177; Sapurah Arshad, “A Composer, His Hope and His Dream,” Straits Times, 5 March 1986, 5. (From NewspaperSG)
[9] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 62; National Museum of Singapore, Majulah!: The Film Music of Zubir Said (Singapore: National Museum of Singapore, 2012), 24. (Call no. RSING 780.92 MAJ)
[10] National Museum of Singapore, Majulah!, 17, 24, 78–86; Rohana Zubir, Zubir Said: The Composer of Majulah Singapura (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012), 78–83.
[11] National Museum of Singapore, Majulah!, 63; Rohana Zubir, Zubir Said, 84.
[12] Azlan Mohamed Said, Musika, 132; Mohd Raman Daud, 7 Magnificent Composers, 100.
