Malaysian screen legend Tan Sri P. Ramlee would have been 90 this year had he survived a heart attack at the age of 44. His death on 29 May 1973 rippled through the nation, causing a collective sense of guilt that in the years before his death, Ramlee’s work had been discredited and regarded as irrelevant. A jack-of-all-trades, he was an actor, director, singer, composer and producer whose name was recognised beyond Southeast Asia, even in Hong Kong and Japan.
Born Teuku Zakaria on 22 March 1929 to Aceh native Teuku Nyak Puteh bin Teuku Karim andPenangite Che Mah Hussein, Ramlee received his early education at the Kampung Jawa Malay School, the Francis Light English School and the Penang Free School. Although he had been described as a “reluctant student”, Ramlee was also known to be gifted in football and music.
While at the Penang Free School, Ramlee’s education was disrupted by the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1942 to 1945. He was forced to enrol in the Japanese navy school in order to continue his studies, but it was here that he received his foundation in music. He even learned to sing in Japanese. After the war came to an end, he continued to hone his musical skills and advanced his knowledge with private lessons. Ramlee’s career in acting began when he moved south to Singapore to join a studio that was expanding into the Malay and Cantonese market.
Shanghai film magnates Run Run and Runme Shaw had built a studio on Jalan Ampas in 1941, providing up-to-date technology and hiring top talent to work on films. In 1948, under the Shaw brothers’ newly incorporated company called Malay Film Productions, Ramlee starred in Chinta. B.S. Rajhans, an established director from India, directed his debut screen role.
In the following years, his career soared in almost 30 Malay-language movies, all backed by the Shaw brothers. One of his better-known films was Nujum Pak Belalang (The FortuneTelling of Mr. Belalang), a comedy released in 1959. Adapted loosely from a Malay folk story,the movie follows the hilarious exploits of an ordinary man who pretends to be psychic tohelp a sultan and his subjects.
By the mid-1960s, Ramlee’s appeal seemed to have diminished. Various factors mayhave contributed to the decline in Ramlee’s marketability. In a post-independent Singapore, newly separated from Malaysia, labour unions formed, causing frequentdisruptions in the film industry. He also faced hefty competition from Hong Kong films,which were garnering top sales at the box office, even in Malaysia. Ramlee moved toKuala Lumpur, where he turned to directing films for a production house called MerdekaStudios, also run by the Shaw brothers. But a fledgling film industry in Malaysia was notconducive to reviving his stardom – the lack of quality actors and reduced budgets prevented Ramlee from producing movies like before.
Ramlee passed away in 1973 after suffering a massive heart attack. Before his death, he was rumoured to have been so destitute that rice and fried eggs were all he could afford, and hiswidow, fellow actress and singer, Saloma was unable to pay for his funeral.Friends dispute this, saying he had been well-paid for every movie he made and evenlived in a house that was paid for by the Shaw brothers.
In an interview withMalay daily Utusan Malaysia, close friend and musician Datuk Dr. Ahmad Nawab explained:“He was paid RM25,000 for every film he made, and during the ‘60s, that was not asmall amount.” Ramlee was one of the few individuals who also received a monthly salary from the Shaw brothers, and his wife Salomawas employed as a singer, so he added.“Surely their financial situation was not sobad? I’ve heard rumours of P. Ramlee being sopoor that he could only afford to eat eggs, butI absolutely don’t believe it.”
Regardless of his true financial situation,Ramlee was widely known to have beengenerous in helping out friends who neededmoney. Anyone who came to Ramlee’s homeseeking financial support was rarely turnedaway, especially those who needed faremoney to return to his home state of Penang.
Today, Ramlee’s reputation as a gifted artist isintact. Multiple buildings and a street in KualaLumpur have been named after him, and hehas received several posthumous titles fromMalaysian royalty.
In Penang, fans can visitthe P. Ramlee House, a museum that houseshis personal memorabilia and honours thefamily history – the house is a traditional Malaykampung design, built by Ramlee’s father.In his entire career, Ramlee was said to havecontributed to more than 60 films. Ramlee also composed nearly 250 songs, includingGetaran Jiwa, a beloved Malay classic oftencovered by modern artists. Ramlee left behinda creative legacy, now preserved as a nationaltreasure for new generations to discover.
*This article was first published in Going Places Magazine in July 2017.
The post Remembering An Icon : Tan Sri P.Ramlee appeared first on Going Places by Malaysia Airlines.
