From one music teacher to another, and another

AMID rising xenophobia, it's worth remembering that the man who composed Singapore's national anthem was Indonesian.

Zubir Said left Bukittinggi for Singapore in 1928 and composed Majulah Singapore in 1958 - nine years before he became a Singapore citizen in 1967.

"But it didn't matter to him where he was from. He believed that wherever your feet touched the earth, that is where you should hold up the sky," says Julian Wong who has conceived a musical tribute to the late composer titled Don't Call Him Mr Mari Kita, set to be staged by Wild Rice in August.

Father figure

Wong is a well-regarded 33-year-old music director and composer who became fascinated with Zubir's life and legacy after learning that his own music teacher, Iskandar Ismail, was a pupil of Zubir's.

As Iskandar was a "father figure" to Wong before he died in 2014, the latter started to research into "the life of my teacher's teacher, as a way of keeping alive my own memories of Iskandar".

What he found astonished him. Among other things, Zubir was a prolific and self-taught composer and musician who penned about 1,500 songs.

He scored many of the classic Malay films made during the 1950s and 1960s, often creating pieces that played to the strengths of each musician working with him. He was so much more than "Mr Mari Kita", a nickname that many children gave him then.

He also spent most of his later years imparting his musical skills and wisdom to the young.

Wong says: "He was a very sentimental man who loved kids. His daughter told me that he once sold off all his belongings just so he could have some money to send his kids to school. He always put his kids first."

These values were passed down to his many students, such as Iskandar, who in turn passed them down to his students, including Wong. Iskandar was the longtime artistic director of the annual children's charity concert ChildAid, before passing the role of music director to Wong.

For the upcoming musical tribute, Wong has invited three of his ex-students to perform on stage with him - as well as several ex-collaborators of Iskandar including Ivan Heng, who is directing the tribute also because of his close ties with Iskandar.

Don't Call Him Mr Mari Kita showcases 16 of Zubir's best songs, such as the popular Semoga Bahagia (May You Achieve Happiness), which is the official Children's Day song, as well as lesser-known ones such as Suhanna (named after Zubir's favourite grandchild).

Wong had performed a shorter version of the concert as part of the 2019 Bicentennial celebrations. But the upcoming version is much longer and richer, splicing the music segments with projected images of newspaper clippings, photographs and sheet music.

Playwright Alfian Sa'at has also been roped in as dramaturg and translator.

Strong connection

Wong says: "To be honest, the reason why I wanted to do this concert of Zubir's music is because of his connection to Iskandar. The connection is so strong that I get emotional sometimes while playing the songs... I have to watch out for the segments that can trigger me, so I don't get so choked up that I have to stop playing."

Wong is currently performing alongside Pam Oei in the hit musical Fag Hag, whose music he composed and directed.

Since Fag Hag opened on July 1, it has gotten rave reviews and standing ovations almost every night.

His teacher - and his teacher's teacher - would have been proud.

• Don't Call Me Mr Mari Kita by Julian Wong will run from Aug 4 to 9. Fag Hag runs from now till July 31. Tickets from wildrice.com.sg.