Fallen Idol

Last night I went to the Singapore premier of the new show, P. Ramlee: The Musical at the Esplanade.

I was excited to see the life story of P. Ramlee. He was the legendary Malay film actor and director from the 1950s through the 1970s, but I especially love the songs of P. Ramlee. I am such a fan of them that I have translated several of them into English and have all the songbooks that I can find.

So I was surprised to learn from this musical what a lazy jerk he was. Sure, he made a lot of movies, but apparently he put very little struggle or work into them. He put no effort into advancing in his career, instead he waited for others to ask him to do stuff. He promised his love to his childhood sweetheart and then left her without another thought. Instead of wooing and winning over his three wives, he let himself be controlled by them and led (apparently) helplessly into all of his marriages. Then he acted heartbroken when his wives left him because of his apathy toward them. Finally, at the end of a successful career (although he did slip in popularity toward the end), he sits in his comfortable home with his devoted wife feeling sorry for himself. Pathetic!

I have to applaud this theater company for presenting a national hero is such a negative light. It seems like risky ground to walk on. But P. Ramlee's music is great enough that it trumps the many personality flaws that they demonstrated. The most exciting parts of the evening was feeling the rush of excitement in the audience when a P. Ramlee song began to play.