By Jerry Choong
SHAH ALAM, Aug 31 — As a gesture of appreciation and honour, the state government has awarded the family of the late composer Saiful Bahri Elyas a house provided by the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).
Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said Saiful wrote the lyrics to several of Malaysia’s most prominent songs, including the national anthem Negaraku and the patriotic song Malaysia Berjaya, as well as composing the melody for the Selangor state anthem Duli Yang Maha Mulia.
“Saiful has since passed, but still has living heirs. Thus, Selangor will be the first state to donate a house contributed by PKNS to his family worth RM1 million, as a gesture of appreciation to the composer of Negaraku and other patriotic songs.
“This is also to honour the individual who provided shared values for us all through the songs he composed or formulated melodies for, as everybody stands for the national and state anthems,” he said.
The Menteri Besar was speaking at the state-wide celebrations to mark the 65th National Day in Dataran Kemerdekaan Shah Alam, yesterday night.
Saiful, born on September 19, 1924, was also the composer of Melaka’s state anthem Melaka Maju Jaya. He worked for the Malayan Radio Orchestra (now the RTM Orchestra) and Filem Negara Malaysia, before his untimely passing at the age of 52 in Tokyo, Japan, on December 26, 1976, while on duty there for Filem Negara Malaysia.
In the same vein, Amirudin announced the state government will fulfil the promise made to the 1995 Selangor state football team and award a house to each of its players, as well as the training team and support team members.
“This is to our modern heroes who serve as symbols of unity in Selangor. The promise made 27 years ago could not be fulfilled by the previous leaders, but the state government today, in Selangor’s name, will do so.
“This is the team that won the Malaysia Cup, the Malaysia Super League, and the Malaysia FA Cup. Each of them will get a home valued at RM250,000,” he said.
Following their victory in November 1995 in the Malaysia Cup that year, the state government at the time promised a reward of 0.4 hectares in land for each player and team official.
On June 24 this year, Amirudin stated that checks of the previous administration’s records of its state executive council meetings confirmed the promise. He said the matter would be brought up to the current State Executive Council Meeting for discussion, to replace the promise of land with homes instead.
