Tan Sri P. Ramlee

Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh

Tan Sri P. Ramlee - Malaysian film actor, director, singer, songwriter, scriptwriter, musician, composer, and producer.

1929 - Born in George Town, Penang, Straits Settlements (now Malaysia)
1936 - Ramlee received his education from the Sekolah Melayu Kampung Jawa (Kampung Jawa Malay School), Francis Light English School and then to Penang Free School. Reportedly a reluctant student, Ramlee was nevertheless talented in music and football.
1942 - 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 (Kaigun Gakko). P. Ramlee was influenced by the high discipline of Japanese army and their strong passion for loving their nation and country. He also learnt the basics of music and to sing Japanese songs during this period.
1948 - P. Ramlee's great talent in singing was detected by an Indian director, B. S. Rajhans. He offers jobs at Malay Film Productions (MFP) to P. Ramlee. Ramlee accepts the offer as he sees it as a golden opportunity that may come only once in his life.

1948 - P. Ramlee's first appearance on the silver screen was in "Chinta". He then appeared in several films as an assistant actor, who highlighted his name due to the vocal strength in his song.
1950 - Director L. Krishnan, who recently worked with the MFP, appointed P. Ramlee as the main character in the film "Bakti". It turned out that the trial was successful. P. Ramlee was well received by the fans of the Malay film at that time. Each film starred by P. Ramlee obtained the "highest-grossing film" record, which made great profits to the movie producer who sponsored him.

1955 - At the height of his popularity as an actor, singer and songwriter, P. Ramlee was appointed as a film director. In 1955, P. Ramlee directed his first film, "Penarek Becha". After directing a western-drama film, P. Ramlee made a surprise with comedy-inspired films. His comedy films were not only funny, the story were also very interesting because they were loaded with social values, satire, and social criticism.
1964 - After he finished directing the film "Tiga Abdul", P. Ramlee quit from MFP to work with Merdeka Film Productions. His first film in the studio was "Tora Si Harimau Jadian", which was published in the same year.
1964 - P. Ramlee had been involved with Jins Shamsudin in the establishment of PERFIMA but eventually he opted out. He then established the company, Syarikat Rumpun Melayu together with Datuk H. M. Shah. Unfortunately, the company was unable to operate because P. Ramlee passed away due to heart attack.

1973 - 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. It is 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.

1982 - The street Jalan Parry, in the center of Kuala Lumpur, was renamed Jalan P. Ramlee in his honour.

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. The P. Ramlee House is a museum situated along Jalan P. Ramlee (formerly Caunter Hall road) 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.
1990 - He was posthumously awarded the Malaysian honorific title Tan Sri.
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.

2017 - On his 88th birthday, Google honored P. Ramlee with a Doodle on the Malaysian Google homepage.