Abang Ramlee

If you ask me whom do I really want to meet, I would say P.Ramlee. And if you ask me what questions would I ask him, I would say I am going to ask him if he heard beautiful music in his sleep, if when he bled did music flow with it and if his heart is filled with joy or sorrow. Then I would ask him to sing.

“ Sing for me abang Ramlee… “ he he…..

I was on the way to work when I heard the beautiful entry of Geteran Jiwa. P. Ramlee’s voice when it came stirred my heart and twisted my feelings. That voice….Oh man… menusuk kalbu ( if kalbu means what I think it means ). Suddenly the voice altered and I thought there was something wrong with the radio, brutally forcing me out of my reverie. Rosak ke radio aku ni ? Eh, bukan… radio ku okay. Suara KRU yang tak okay, destroying abang Ramlee’s soulful serenade.

Apa raaa…. Potong stim gila…… But when abang Ramlee sang again, it was simply marvelous. Lovely. The deep voice, unmarred by any glitches was just so divine. So smooth, a treat to the ears. And I of course wept, because it just touched my soul. Can you imagine him reading the Quran or even reciting Adzan….. ?


But lets concentrate on his talents, especially his song writing. Exquisitely composed songs. Calming but can jump-start your feelings at the same time. They are mostly romantic, making you ache for your lover. Tunggu Sekejap and Malam Ku Bermimpi were some of my favorites. How can he write such beautiful melodies and have the voice to sing them ?


Malam Ku Bermimpi

Malam ku bermimpi

Hai dengan satu bintang

Berkata-kata ku di jendela

Ku lihat kanda tersenyum memandang

Asmara bergelora

Meresap ke dada

Malam ku terlihat

Oh sekuntumlah bunga

Baunya harum menarik hati

Tak sanggup menahan rasa asmara

Meresap mendalam

Mengusik di jiwa

Sayang jauh di balik awan

Wajahmu tetap berseri-seri

Laksana bulan sedang mengambang

Menawan dan menggoncang dalam kalbu

Oh angin meniup

Bawa daku ke sana

Hasratku ingin bersama-sama

Tak tahan rasa hati menderita

Gelora asmara

Selalu menggoda

He actually sang this song with Saloma. I really love this one. It is so romantic. The yearning, the missing, the love… you can almost feel it. The melody is the best of all………. Beats Kenny G any time….. he he…. ( However I amnot sure about the lyrics. He did pen some lyrics but mostly they were penned by S. Sudarmaji ).

His movies are precious too. They engulfed our lives and shape the way we talked sometimes. Me, I love to use his “ Banyakk…., jarang – jarang and kadang – kadang “ as per Nujum Pak Belalang. What about his “ Oii orang sebelah !! “ scene in Masam – Masam Manis that became a sort of joke between a lot of married couples when they fight. Or his kutu babi stint in Bujang Lapok. There are too many to mention.

One of my colleagues doesn’t like his movies because she said they were filled with expletives, from bahlol to haram jadah. True, but well… that is P. Ramlee for you, I suppose. Level of censorship back then was not the same as now and to me it is just a reflection of society back then.

I love the way he looked in Sarjan Hassan and when he spoke in English, I almost swoon with pride at his intelligence. Come on, he didn’t sound awkward at all speaking English.

I remember reading the papers about one of the veterans lashing out at the reporter when they tried to interview him. He was angry because all the while all people would talk about was P.Ramlee and he felt left out. He said he is not doing any interviews as he felt it was too late. He asked the reporter to do another piece on P. Ramlee instead. Whoa !! Relax brother…

When I was working in Klang as a Trainee Engineer, a colleague of mine told us of a story that happened to her cousin. Her grandma lives in Keramat or Kampung Baru, I am not sure. One day her cousin was sitting outside their grandma’s house and she saw a guy walking by. He was clad in white suit and wore white shoes. It was P.Ramlee. She was frozen when P.Ramlee approached her and left a message to not watch his movies anymore because it hurts him every time his movies were being watched.

I told that story to my family and I remember saying that whatever it is we have to take that story with a pinch of salt. Ye ke tidak. But my mom and some of my sisters were really cute. If they happened to chance on a P.Ramlee movie on the telly, they would squeeze their eyes shut while attempting to change the channel. He he….

Nevertheless, the story is good for my Abang Ramlee. After that, my family and I would always mention him in our prayers. Praying for him to be saved from seksa kubur and api neraka. He died too young but I believe because Allah loves him. His generosity and kindness is wildly known.

Al-Fatihah.

PS : It is worth noting that P. Ramlee died on the 27th of May, 1973 in Kuala Lumpur and my abang was born on the 28th of May, 1973 in Ohio, U.S.A. He does look like him a bit.