The Making of "Majulah Singapura" as We Know It

The national anthem that we know today wasn't the original version composed by Zubir Said. His first version was longer and was set at a higher key. Emeritus Professor Bernard Tan talks about how "Majulah Singapura" came about and how it changed over the decades, and illustrates how these versions differ on his piano.Emeritus Professor Bernard T. G. Tan is a retired professor of physics from the National University of Singapore who also dabbles in music. Some of his compositions have been performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He is a former chairman of the Sing Singapore organising committee.What Prof Tan Talked About00:00 – Introduction to Singapore’s national anthem03:16 – How “Majulah Singapura” came about04:14 – Zubir Said’s composition of “Majulah Singapura”06:18 – Adoption of the anthem and its unauthorised shortening09:24 – Comparison of different versions and musical implications15:18 – Prof Tan’s detective work to verify Zubir Said’s original manuscript19:31 – Fanfare introduction and early concert arrangements22:22 – Government-led initiative to reorchestrate the anthem25:48 – Lowering the anthem’s key from G major to F major27:45 – Lee Kuan Yew’s suggestion on the anthem33:18 – Controversial arrangements of "Majulah Singapura"36:57 – Origin of “Negaraku”, Malaysia’s national anthem40:22 – How Prof Tan juggles his roles as a composer, professor of physics and SSO board member42:51 – How he helped found the SSO48:44 – His career at NUS51:20 – Similarities between scientific research to music writingTranscript and ResourcesRead the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-the-making-of-majulah-singapura-as-we-know-it-bernard-tan/Read the BiblioAsia article: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-21-issue-1-apr-jun-2025-sing-singapore-national-day-songs/Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Prof Tan for coming on the show.The BiblioAsia Podcast by the National Library Singapore tells stories about Singapore history.