Mr. Zubir Bin Said was born on 22 July 1907 in Bukittinggi in the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. He was the eldest child in a family of 3 boys and 5 girls. He started to love music when he was in primary school. A primary School classmate taught him how to play the flute. In middle school, he learnt to play the guitar and drums and was involved in the keroncong group.
In 1928, at the age of 21, Zubir came to Singapore. He came to Singapore to become a musician. His first job was with City Opera as a musician. In 1936, he married a keroncong singer, Taminah Kario Wikromo and returned to Indonesia in 1941 before WW2. In 1947, he came back to Singapore and worked as part-time photographer with Utusan Melayu newspaper. In 1949, he became an Orchestra Conductor at Shaw Brothers Malay Film production. In 1952, he joined Cathay-Keris Film production as a score arranger and songwriter for Malay films.
In 1958, the City Council of Singapore approached Zubir to compose a song for The city ” Majulah Singapura “, which was a motto to be displayed in the Victoria Theatre after its renovation. On 6 september 1958 “Majulah Singapura” (“Onward Singapore”) was performed by Singapore Chamber Ensemble at the Victoria Theatre to celebrate its official reopening.
The Government wanted to unite the different races in Singapore with a National Anthem. They realised that the City Council song which was “Majulah Singapura” was a popular song sang amongst the people. After some changes to the song, the Legislative Assembly adopted it on 11 November 1958. The National Anthem was presented to the nation on 3 December 1959 at the launch of “Loyalty Week”, replacing the Colonial Anthem “God Save The Queen” .
After Singapore’s independence from Malaysia on 9th August 1965, Majulah Singapura was formally adopted as the Republic’s National Anthem.
The Founding Father of Our Singapore Pledge
Sinnathamby Rajaratnam was born in 25 February 1915 in Sri Lanka. He was the second child in the family. He studied in St. Paul Institution and in Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur and later on at Raffles Institution in Singapore. In 1937, he went the King’s College London to pursue a Law degree. When WW2 came his family did not have sufficient funds to support his degree. He had no choice but no become a journalist to make a living.
He met his wife Piroska Feher, a Hungarian teacher, while in London. In 1948, he came back to Singapore and joined the Malayan Tribune. In 1950, he joined Singapore Tiger Standard founded by Aw Boon Haw. In 1954, he joined the straits times as a journalist.
In 1954, Mr Rajaratnam co-founded PAP together with Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee and others. He became popular among his supporters. Mr Rajaratnam held many positions during his political career such as Minister for Culture (1959), Minister for Foreign Affairs (1965-1985), Minister of Labour (1968-1971), Deputy Prime Minister (1980-1985) and was later appointed as Senior Minister until his retirement in 1988.
Mr Rajaratnam was a strong believer in multi-racialism in Singapore. He drafted the Singapore Pledge in 1966 which was two years after 1964 Race Riots. He wrote the words “One united people, regardless of Race, language or religion”. He advocated for greater racial integration which he felt was lacking in the country.
