Tan Sri Teuku Zakaria Bin Teuku Nyak Puteh , better known by his stage name P. Ramlee, was a Malaysian film actor, director, singer, songwriter, scriptwriter, musician, composer, and producer. Due to his contributions to the movie and music industry and his literary work, which began with his acting debut in Singapore in 1948, to the height of his career and then later moving to Malaysia in 1964, until his decline and death, he is regarded as a prominent icon of Malay entertainment. His fame has even reached as far as Brunei and Sumatra, Indonesia, as well as in Hong Kong and Japan.
Early life
P. Ramlee, or Teuku Zakaria was born on Wednesday 22 March 1929 to Teuku Nyak Puteh Bin Teuku Karim and Che Mah Hussein. His father, Teuku Nyak Puteh, travelled from Lhokseumawe in Aceh, Indonesia to settle in Penang; where his mother is from. Ramlee received his education from the Sekolah Melayu Kampung Jawa, Francis Light English School and then to Penang Free School; in all he was registered as "Ramlee" in school. Reportedly a reluctant student, Ramlee was nevertheless talented in music and football. His studies at the Penang Free School was interrupted by the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, during which he enrolled in the Japanese navy school. He also learnt the basics of music and to sing Japanese songs during this period. When the war ended, he took music lessons that enabled him to read musical notations.
Career
His first screen appearance was in Chinta, a B. S. Rajhans-directed film produced by :ms:Malay Film Productions Ltd|Malay Film Productions in 1948. Between 1948 and 1955, he has starred in a total of 27 films. He eventually ventured into film directing under the mentoring of Madras-born director :ms:L. Krishnan|L. Krishnan.
Death
On 29 May 1973, P. Ramlee died at the age of 44 from a heart attack and was buried at Jalan Ampang Muslim Cemetery, in Kuala Lumpur. A 90-minute documentary on his life released by History Channel Asia on October 2010 further revealed that his untimely death shocked the nation into a sense of collective guilt spread nationwide. This was because, prior to his death, he had been discredited and rejected by the entertainment industry and the public at large, who felt that he was a "has-been" and that his songs and films were no longer relevant or marketable. The documentary also revealed that, despite his previous success in the entertainment industry, P. Ramlee had died penniless, having given away the last of his money to a visitor to his house who he felt needed the money more than him.
Legacy
In 1986, 13 years after his death, in honour of his contributions to the Malaysian entertainment industry, the P. Ramlee Memorial or Pustaka Peringatan P. Ramlee was built in his home in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. In 1982, the street Jalan Parry, in the center of Kuala Lumpur, was renamed Jalan P. Ramlee in his honour. In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the Malaysian honorific title Tan Sri, and then in 2009, the honorific title of "Datuk Amar" by Sarawak State Government. Then Chief Minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud, an avid fan of P. Ramlee, presented the award to his adopted daughter, Dian P. Ramlee, in a ceremony honouring veteran artists in Kuching. The P. Ramlee House is a museum situated along Jalan P. Ramlee in Penang, Malaysia. The building is a restored wooden house that was originally built in 1926 by his father and uncle. The house had previously undergone multiple repairs before being taken over by the National Archives as an extension of its P. Ramlee Memorial project in Kuala Lumpur. Items on display at the house include personal memorabilia related to his life in Penang and items belonging to his family. On 22 March 2017; his 88th birthday, Google honored P. Ramlee with a Doodle on the Malaysian Google homepage.
