00:04Every idol feature has a soundtrack.
00:07You hear it in shopping malls, on crowded highways, in homes preparing for open houses.
00:13And every year, the same voices return.
00:17Pete Ramley, Saloma, Sudirman Arshad.
00:20Their songs are decades old, but Malaysians still sing every word.
00:27Music Director, Raja Farooq Raja Zaini Ismail, says the magic begins with the music.
00:33In Piramley's case, maybe from Perdika Buja Lapok, you hear pop pop pop, Buja Lapok, it's cute.
00:39Then when you had to study them, play them, like in for a sombo or musical or anything,
00:42you realise that, oh, it's actually quite complex.
00:45And at that time when I was much more younger in my music education, I'd be like,
00:49this is unnecessarily difficult, Piramley, why?
00:52It was only much later, 12 days, I realised there was a reason why he wrote it that way.
00:57It was not trying to be difficult, it was just trying to be musical.
01:00Simple melodies, complex arrangements, stories that feel deeply human.
01:06Take Dendang Perantau, a song about celebrating raya far from home.
01:11Even today, many Malaysians know that feeling.
01:14Singer Sean Ghazi says Piramley reflected the spirit of Malaysia itself.
01:20My experience with Piramley, I feel that he is our prototype Malaysian.
01:26I think if you were looking for an example of what the vision of Malaysians is,
01:34he comes very close.
01:36You know, he was ahead of his time.
01:38He was very mohibah before it was cool.
01:41You know, he was embracing of all the cultures, yet he was a proud Malaysian,
01:45a proud Malay, a proud Muslim man.
01:48And so I think when it comes to this time of year,
01:50I think those values resonate with Malaysians.
01:55His music crossed cultures and generations, sometimes in unexpected places.
02:02You know, just the other day, I was in the taxi for a grab,
02:06and this Chinese uncle was humming Gitaran Jiwa.
02:11And so his art and his music belong to everyone.
02:15And I feel that when it comes to the festivals,
02:18it's a more poignant time, and people like to reflect,
02:21you know, and remember how they used to celebrate when they were growing up.
02:26And so I think it's a nice mix of nostalgia and a bit of nationalism
02:32and a bit of, you know, pride for our culture, for our country.
02:38Younger artists are discovering the classics too.
02:42Singer Chin Pui Ting, better known as Puds, grew up barely hearing these songs.
02:48Now, she performs them.
02:50Because music, she says, speaks beyond language.
03:09I think it's just the magic of listening to music.
03:13It's like music conveys feelings so much better than words alone.
03:17Music transcends words and languages.
03:20It's like you can listen to any piece in any language
03:23and still feel something.
03:25That's the beauty of music that I feel.
03:29And then, there is Balik Kampung, Sudirman's joyful anthem about going home.
03:52His nephew, Razman Azray Zainuddin, says the phrase itself is uniquely Malaysian.
03:58There is no perfect English translation, but every Malaysian understands it.
04:06You can only say, are you going to Balik Kampung?
04:10So that was very, very catchy.
04:13And he was, I would say, ahead of his time in that manner.
04:19I knew him as a person that loved his fans a lot.
04:23He loved the Malaysians and his fans more than anything else.
04:29So that's why I think he was quite special in that sense.
04:34Because when he sang, it really came deep from his heart.
04:40And that may be why these songs endure.
04:42Because somewhere on the journey home, the music always returns.
04:47And with it, a line Malaysians know by heart.
04:51Terbayang wajah-wajah yang kusayang.
04:54Picturing the faces of the ones we love waiting at home.
04:59Natasha Bius, Kirtana Armugam and Zaza Atira, FMT.
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