Publicity photos frequently show Zubir Said composing at the piano. Though not his favorite instrument (the violin is preferred for its timbral possibilities), he nevertheless valued the piano for its practical utility to test out harmonic progressions and improvise. It is perhaps surprising to learn that Zubir did not receive any formal music training. His music education was entirely experiential. He listened to the world around him and absorbed influences and teachings when they came his way. His natural musical inclination and good aural skills were honed during his days as an itinerant musician, as was his ‘can-do’ spirit. Zubir forged a successful career as a music supervisor at HMV (His Master’s Voice), performer, and composer in the developing music scene in pre- and post-war Singapore, but at this time would surely never have predicted his eventual acclaim as composer of Singapore’s national anthem.
The lyrics of Majulah Singapura could not be further removed from Zubir’s description of a land of glittering lights, ‘mentega’ (butter) and ‘kopi susu’ (coffee with milk), his picturesque imagination of Singapore in 1928 while waiting to disembark from a cargo boat off the Singapore Strait. The lighted port of Tanjong Pagar enthralled him just as surely as lights in the dark abyss of night.
When Zubir wrote the Majulah three decades later, he was well into middle age and could better appreciate Singapore’s political desire for self-governance, having been a subject of the Dutch and Japanese earlier in Indonesia. Zubir’s biggest challenges, however, were the crafting of simple lyrics to embody the spirit of a young nation: ‘it is not a film song. It is not a romantic song . . . It is a special kind of song’. Continuing,
But the difficulty is in such a short melody. I have to put in all the words in very simple . . . understandable for all the races in Singapore. So that takes long. Not the music but the words take long. I’ve got to be very careful . . . in proper Malay language but not too deep and not too difficult.[i]
Clearly, his identification with patriotic music is deeper than the mere expressions of a particular aesthetic style. Zubir did not intend for the Majulah to be perceived as romantic nostalgia, but as the aspiration of its people and a nation on the cusp of independence. Although he stressed the need for simplicity in the anthem’s text, his desire for an informed encounter with the principle of nationhood is evident. He studied the policy of the government and sought to understand its sociological and political causes as he recognized the transformative potential of his adopted country. Fortunately, with the help of Malay language expert Muhammad Ariff Ahmad and musician Paul Abisheganaden, he was able to complete the work within two weeks.
Even though Zubir did not share his compositional process of the Majulah, we can surmise that his method would be to first sketch the melody in both numbered musical notation[ii] and staff notation, with the former as an initial and preferred convenience to conceive its skeletal form. Thereafter, he would diligently pen in the harmonic progression, fleshing out the notes of the chords supporting the melody. The neat handwriting of his manuscripts reveals a sense of consciousness and effort to convey clear musical intentions. His patriotic compositions were not the product of gushing emotions, but were carefully considered—their larger political and social purpose ever in mind.
Although the thematic material of the Majulah is original, Zubir shared that he was inspired by Indonesian patriotic music which was rhythmic and uplifting, unlike the more lyrical and melodious Malay music or folksong, which had over time assimilated elements from various external influences. Perhaps Zubir had intuitively resisted the use of a folksong for the western-styled anthem as he may have perceived that as a form of musical subjugation. Thus, his melodic idea is simple, straightforward, and without much flourish, not distracting from its rhythmic impetus. Indeed, we can see from historical versions of the anthem that Zubir strived for the most precise expression of his musical phrases, revising and distilling the musical text until it reached the form that we know today.[iii]
[i] Oral History Interview with Zubir Said (Reel 14). See also https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/google-doodle-pays-tribute-to-singapore-music-icon-composer-zubir-said. Accessed 20 February 2020.
[ii] A notational system commonly used in Asia where the numbers 1 to 7 represent the sequential notes of a musical scale.
[iii] Oral History Interview with Zubir Said (Reel 15). For Bernard T.G. Tan’s personal account of the origins and adoption of the Majulah as national anthem, see ‘The Hunt for Majulah Singapura’ in Cultural Connections, Vol. 4. Singapore: NHB, 2019. https://www.mccy.gov.sg/cultureacademy/resources/journals/Cultural-Connections-Vol-4 (pp.12–28). For the City Council version of Majulah, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6kaVWiuJ2U. Assessed 20 May 2020.