The Life and Legacy of Zubir Said
Zubir Said (1907–87) gave Singapore its national anthem, “Majulah Singapura”, and its official Children’s Day song, “Semoga Bahagia”. Working with theatre company Wild Rice, musical director Julian Wong put together a critically acclaimed production on the life of Pak Zubir that mixed history, music and memory in a moving show, Don't Call Him Mr. Mari Kita. Performances were sold out in 2022 and 2024. In this episode, Julian tells us the challenges of putting up the show, including the research and transcription, and reveals if he’s a Swiftie.
Listen to the Full Episode
Available on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts , melisten.
Subscribe to get notified when the next episode drops.
What Julian Talked About
03:07 – How the show Don't Call Him Mr. Mari Kita came about
05:17 – Julian’s research into the life of Pak Zubir Said
08:04 – Performing the show during Covid
10:13 – How Julian arranged his version of “Semoga Bahagia”
12:35 – Difficulties of researching Pak Zubir’s life
13:40 – The most interesting discovery about Pak Zubir
15:49 – A touching story about Pak Zubir
17:50 – Continuing the legacy of teacher-student collaborations
18:59 – How “Majulah Singapura” was conceived
22:44 – What Julian learnt about Pak Zubir from his teacher Iskandar Ismail
24:42 – Julian’s relationship with his teacher
26:37 – Mentoring students and budding musicians at ITE
27:57 – On winning the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council
29:43 – Favourite song from Don't Call Him Mr. Mari Kita
31:36 – What he’s working on
32:54 – Julian’s favourite musician
34:06 – Is he a Swiftie?
About the Guest
Julian Wong is a composer, arranger, music director, educator and performer. He has composed for Wild Rice, including An Inspector Calls, Pinocchio, Tartuffe: The Imposter, etc. As music director, he has helmed overseas assignments such as Liao Zhai Rocks! (Shanghai) and Spotlight Singapore (Mexico City), as well as home-grown projects such as Hossan Leong’s Hossan-AH! 50, Pam Oei’s Faghag and The Theatre Practice’s If There’re Seasons. Additionally, Julian has conducted and arranged for Joyful Strings, Ministry of Bellz, Orchestra of the Music Makers, Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, and many more. Julian graduated from Berklee College of Music, where he received the Professional Music Excellence Award and Alex Ulanowski Award. In 2023, he received the Young Artist Award, Singapore’s highest award for young arts practitioners.
Resources
Rohana Zubir, Zubir Said: The Composer of Majulah Singapura (Singapore:
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012).
Cheryl Sim, “Zubir Said,”
Singapore Infopedia, published 3 September 2014.
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Doppler Soundlab. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. This version of “Semoga Bahagia” was composed by Zubir Said, produced by Julian Wong and performed by Wild Rice. Special thanks to Julian for coming on the show.
About the Podcast
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.