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The Story Of P Ramlee's
Where lies the heart of a star. Every genius has
his roots. Each marvel springs from a source.
In 1925, a young sailor from Lho' Seumawe in
Acheh by the name of Teuku Nyak Puteh settled
in Penang to marry a quiet lass from
Butterworth, Che Mah Hussein.
As the modest couple began a new life in a
village, it is unlikely they could in their wildest
dreams have imagined that they would have a
son who would some day become a legend.
P. Ramlee became just that; an icon whose
stature rang across the continent, the most
consummate entertainer – actor, director,
singer, composer, storyteller – Malaysia has
seen or is ever likely to.
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It all began at a tiny address in Penang island – 4A Caunter Hall Road – a humble
house typical of a Malay kampung structure raised on stilts with attap-thatched
roofing, corrugated sheets of iron, and wooden floors.
The house still stands at the road, which some 10 years after his death was
renamed Jalan P. Ramlee and now draws streams of curious visitors and tourists.
Lush, open-spaced and idyllic, the environment of the place, dotted with swaying
coconut trees, was ripe for nurturing the spirited, romantic passion of an artistic
heart.
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Ramlee was born in this house of his maternal grandmother on March 22 – on the
festive day of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri – of 1929. After 44 days he was taken to his
parents' home in Kampung Jawa, but in later years kept coming to Caunter Hall till
his groundbreaking move to the illustrious studio of the Shaw Brothers in Singapore.
Ramlee is said to have taken to singing and storytelling very naturally at a tender
age. Even as a teenager, his steady resonant voice so impressed his neighbours
that he was frequently asked to be the muezzin and call out daily Muslim prayers at
the Kampung Jawa Baru mosque.
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But it was the rendition of his celebrated song
Azizah, composed in his early 20s for his first love,
which thrust him on the threshold towards stardom.
In 1948, B.S. Rajhans, a Singaporean director
scouting for talents, attended an agricultural show in
which Ramlee's band just so happened to be invited
to perform.
Rajhans was instantly taken with the band and
Ramlee's marvellous delivery of Azizah. He asked
Ramlee and his friend Sukardi if they would be
interested in a screen test for the Shaw Brothers'
Malay Film Productions.
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On the morning of August 8, Ramlee and Sukardi boarded a train at the Butterworth
railway terminal, their excited minds set on the famed studio far south in Singapore.
Rajhans himself later directed Ramlee's first movie called Chinta, which featured
Siput Sarawak playing the female lead. Ramlee was cast as the villain and was also
the background singer.
In his element – P. Ramlee and his wife, Saloma belting out a favourite accompanied
by friends.
It is said that the young Ramlee eagerly took up any task during production and was
willing to be cast in any role – hero or villain. With his beautiful voice, he later
became the first Malay film star not to require a background singer.
It is understood that the days preceding Ramlee's sudden demise in 1973 were filled
with strains in his personal life. But the impact he had made among his admirers was
by then already indelible.
When he died of a heart attack at the age of only 45 years at his last home in Kuala
Lumpur, he had acted in 60 films and directed 37.
He has also crooned more than 250 original songs – including tunes that are now
immortal classics such as Bunyi Guitar, Malam ku Bermimpi, Jeritan Batinku and the
immensely melodious Jangan Tinggal Daku.
His movies, popularly rerun on television ever since, have become household names
and intimately adored by a wide cross-section of Malaysian society.
In 1957, he was awarded the best male actor for Anakku Sazali at the Asian Film
Festival in Tokyo. In 1959, his Pendekar Bujang Lapok won the best comedy at the
same festival held in Kuala Lumpur, and in 1963 he was given an extraordinary award
as Asia's Most Versatile Talent for his performance in Ibu Mertuaku.
His string of honours is dizzying. Even the Malaysian army offered him the title of
'Sergeant Titular' because of his acting in the movie Sergeant Hassan!
The King of Malaysia posthumously conferred upon him the honorary title Tan Sri in
1990.
Some of P. Ramlee's films laid benchmarks and lasting imprints in local film lore. The
movie Sitora Harimau Jadian (1964) was filled with trick shots and makeup
techniques considered novel in the industry then.
The story was about a retired fighter who arrives with his family to trade in a village
just as superstitious folks hear accounts of a magical creature haunting the area by
night. It thrilled the audiences, as did the comedies Madu Tiga, Nujum Pa' Belalang
and Laksamana Do Re Mi enrapture viewers from all walks of life.
Intriguingly enough, Malaysians could do well to thank none other than their
Japanese occupiers of the Second World War for refining the talents of the boy who
would someday became the country's greatest screen idol.
Ramlee was under the tutelage of the brass band head of the Penang Free School,
Encik Kamaruddin, when the Japanese invaded and he was forced to stop schooling.
He soon attended the Kaigun, a Japanese navy school, where while picking up
Japanese songs he was trained in violin, piano and ukulele under the tutorship of
Hirake San.
He later learnt to strum the guitar from Zain Kechik, the head of the Bintang Sore
band.
Ramlee's own first band was Teruna Sekampung – a collection of young eager
beavers who were only too happy to jam away at wedding receptions and other
festive occasions with their violin, drum set, saxophone, double bass and a couple of
guitars.
He then joined the Mutiara band and still later the Pancaragam Keroncong Pemuda
Indonesia as its viola player. It is with this last band that at the age of 18 years he
won a regional contest for bands in Penang and Province Wellesley for the song
Keroncong Oh Suci, which he belted out himself.
That same year he was also chosen as North Malaya's Star Singer in a contest
organised by Radio Pulau Pinang. It was during this event that he first used the
initial 'P', from his father's name, Puteh, in front of his own.
In fact, unknown to many, Ramlee's original name was Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak
Puteh. His father, the Achehnese sailor, later changed it on the advice his elder
brother.
Today, coconut trees still sway near Ramlee's birthplace and children in surrounding
village can be heard at play just like ages ago.
The portraits of Teuku Nyak Puteh and his wife Che Mah now hang within the house
that 75 years ago ushered in a child destined for stardom.
Amid the very down-to-earth air of the small building, their meek rustic faces beam
with such simplicity that one cannot help but sense that beautiful spirit of
innocence, that earnest humility, which raised P. Ramlee to move a nation.
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Written by Himanshu Bhatt & photograph by Adrian Cheah
Courtesy of www.penang tourism.com.my © All rights reserved
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