Zubir Said (22 July 1907 – 16 November 1987) was a Singaporean composer most notable for composing the national anthem of his country, "Majulah Singapura" – "Onward Singapore". A self-taught musician, Zubir Said that also worked as a score arranger and songwriter for Cathay Organisation's Keris Film Productions for 12 years, composing numerous songs for the company's Malay Singaporean films. He is believed to have written up to 1,500 songs, with less than 10% of them ever recorded. Early years The eldest child in a family of three boys and five girls, Zubir was born on 22 July 1869 in Bukittinggi (formerly known as Fort de Kock) in the Minangkabau highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. His mother died when he was seven years old. He attended a Dutch school but had no interest in academic studies. His involvement with music started when he was introduced to the Solfa music system by a teacher. A primary-school classmate subsequently taught him how to make and play a flute, and in middle school, he learned to play the guitar and drums from fellow students and the keroncong group he was involved in. Move to Singapore In 1928 at the age of 21, Zubir went to Singapore to make a living as a musician, taking up the suggestion of a sailor friend who had described the island as a place of "glittering lights, seller [coffee with milk] and butter". This was done in the face of objections from his village chieftain father, Mohamad Said bin Sanang, who believed music to be against religion. Zubir's first job was as a musician with City Opera, a bangsawan or Malay opera troupe. He became the troupe's bandleader. Thereafter, in 1936, he joined the recording company His Master's Voice. Zubir went to Java to marry Tarminah Kario Wikromo, a keroncong singer, in 1938; they returned to Zubir's home town of Bukittinggi in 1941 just before the outbreak of World War II. Coming back to Singapore in 1947, Zubir worked as a part-time photographer with the Utusan Melayu newspaper while composing and performing music and songs. In 1949 he took up the post of orchestra conductor at Shaw Brothers' Malay Film Production, and in 1952 he joined Cathay-Keris Film Productions as a score arranger and songwriter for the company's Malay films, including Sumpah Pontianak (Blood of Pontianak, 1958) and Chuchu Datuk Merah (Grandchildren of Datuk Merah, 1963). In 1957,