PENANG, blessed with natural beauty, holds a special allure to many of its inhabitants, foreigners, and tourists alike.
That its charm has inspired several people to write songs about Penang or Pulau Pinang shows their fondness and love for the tiny state.
Ironically, it was not until 1972 that the Penang government adopted an official state anthem, called ‘Untuk Negeri Kita’.
The Penang House of Music (PHoM), through its social media platforms of Facebook and Instagram, recently posted a few news articles about how the state anthem came about.
“We want to tell the public the story behind the state anthem. It is good to know its history and heritage. We must not take things for granted and we must rightfully accord due recognition to the person behind the state anthem,” PHoM director Paul Augustin told Buletin Mutiara in an interview.
“PHoM also found out that there was a notice placed in newspapers inviting suggestions for a Penang state anthem in 1957 by the Settlement Government. However, no other information was available on whether it was successful or what transpired after the notice in the newspapers.”
Based on research conducted by PHoM, Augustin said the state anthem was written by the late Second Lieutenant Awaluddin Zainal Alam, whose father, Dato’ Zainal Alam SM Zainul Abidin was the former broadcasting director of RTM Penang and a popular master of ceremonies.
For his winning song, the 22-year-old Awaluddin won the prize money of RM1,000. The eldest son of Dato’ Zainal Alam was then attached to the Malaysian Engineering Squadron of the Armed Forces in Taiping.
There was no doubt Awaluddin was the chip of the old block, being greatly influenced by his father’s passion for music and arts.
Also, the family was well known in the community as they used to provide musical entertainment through their band, called the Dar-Es-Salaam Harmonium Party.
Among the several people who had written songs for and about Penang was the late Jimmy Boyle, one of the nation’s most prolific composers of national tunes who died in 1971.
Augustin said many of the songs Boyle composed were nationalistic songs such as Putera Puteri, Pantun Melayu, Bunga Negara, Sungai Pahang, Senjakala, Chendering and according to a letter by Boyle to the Private Secretary to the Governor in 1970, Boyle mentioned of how a song that he had written initially for Penang was re-adapted into the patriotic “Kemegahan Negaraku”, which incidentally was the second song to be played at the Selangor Padang after the Negaraku on the eve of Merdeka.
Boyle had also composed songs for several institutions and events including Technical Institute Penang, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), RAAF School Penang, Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia, Road Safety (Ingat Ingat), and the 1st Malaysian Scout Jamboree Scout song (Bersatu Jaya) held in Penang in 1966.
Penang had continued using an abridged version of the national anthem, Negaraku, at official functions and ceremonies since Merdeka in 1957 before it had its own state anthem.
A news report said that on March 2, 1972, the then State Speaker Dato’ Harun Sirat announced a competition by inviting the country’s local composers and musicians to compose a song to be used as the Penang state anthem.
Harun said the state government wanted a state anthem to project the image of Penang and that it should have a Malaysian element and a traditional melody.
He also announced a prize of RM1,000 would go to the winner.
A committee was formed to organise the competition. It was headed by Harun himself, with Khoo Teng Chye, Abdul Rahman Yunos, D.C. Stewart, Ismail Hashim, Dr S.P. Chelliah, Khoo Soo Giap, Zainal Alam, Dr Khoo Kim Cheng, Khoo Boon Beow (as secretary until March 1, 1972) and Abdul Majid Nor Mohamad (from Sept 1, 1972) as members.
The committee received more than 40 entries, some of which were rejected because their pantuns were not accompanied by musical notes, the news report added.
Out of the over 40 entries, the committee shortlisted 10 entries for a panel of judges to recommend three songs to the state government for final selection.
The panel of judges comprised Yang Amri Kamaruddin, who was then the State Secretary as chairman of the panel; Johari Salleh, leader of Radio/TV Malaysia’s orchestra; Ariff Ahmad, a senior cultural officer attached to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports; I.K. Cheah, a renowned Penang lawyer and musician; Abdul Rahman Yunos, the then state assemblyman for Balik Pulau (who replaced Ismail Hashim, who was then away to the United Nations).
Harun also gave special thanks to Johari for arranging the three selected songs to give them equal treatment before the state government made its final selection.
On Nov 15, 1972, the state exco went to the auditorium of Radio Malaysia in Penang to listen to the three recommended songs.
As the news report said, the state exco, after listening and discussing for more than an hour, picked the song ‘Untuk Negeri Kita’ as Penang’s state anthem.
It was played officially for the first time at the parade on Dec 23, 1972 to mark the 66th birthday of Governor Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah at the City Stadium.
At 8am on that auspicious day, the tune was played when the Governor and his consort, Toh Puan Hajjah Sharifah Fatimah, entered the City Stadium.
The Penang state anthem was modified in 1993 from a slower tempo to its current, faster pace.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by courtesy of Penang House of Music
