Today in Singapore, our homepage is dedicated to the 107th birthday of
Zubir Said, a prolific songwriter of over 1,000 works. A self-taught musician, Zubir came to Singapore from Indonesia at the age of 21 to work as a composer, music teacher and part-time photographer. He is best known for composing our national anthem as well as the song for
Children’s Day.
In 1958, a year before Singapore attained self-governance, the deputy mayor of the city council invited Zubir to compose a theme song for the council's official functions. The title,
Majulah Singapura (“Onward Singapore”), was prescribed to Zubir, as this was the motto that was to be displayed at the re-opening of the city state’s famous Victoria Theater where the song would be performed for the first time.
Zubir spent a year working on the music and lyrics. He later used an old Malay proverb to describe his approach to the anthem:
"Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung", which today
translates into the saying that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. For Zubir, this meant coming up with an anthem that was simple and could easily be understood and adopted by all ethnicities in Singapore. The result was an inspiring
anthem with a refrain that quickly became popular with locals:
Let us all unite
In a new spirit
Together we proclaim
Onward Singapore
Posted by Sana Rahman, Communications Manager, Google Singapore
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