#lullyslist | #my1959

Hey! I'm sure you have seen our recent shawl design on our Instagram feed and stories. It's a tribute to 60 years of our National State Crest, National Pledge and National Anthem. The team and I were so honoured to be part of #my1959. When briefed to create a design based on these symbols, we chose the National Anthem. 

We have all sang the Majulah Singapura all our lives during school assembly but do we really relate every word of it to our lives now? The composer Zubir Said is stranger to none. I wanted to know more about this talented man and his thought process while composing our National Anthem. In excitement, I went to the nearest library from home and found a book written by Zubir Said's daughter! 

 One fun fact which I could relate to was that Zubir left his home town to pursue music despite his father's disapproval. However, he finally recognized his son's hard work when he came to Singapore and witnessed the official ceremony of the National Anthem. 

He faced many struggles before and after composing the anthem. Initially it was thought that the lyrics were too long. Then, there was an situation where a minority of people wanted to replace the anthem with another song; commonly sung during our National Day celebrations.

Zubir left a very insightful quote which made an impact and influence our take on designing the Majulah Singapura shawl. 

"Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung" ("You should hold up the sky of the land you live") is a famous Malay proverb which was cited by Zubir Said, as an inspiration for Majulah Singapura.

Using his original score with his handwritten lyrics, our designs were inspired by his philosophy that in order for the new to arrive, one must let go of the old in a manner that is respectful and appropriate.

We contrasted his handwritten line "Majulah Singapura" with digital scans of the state colours and our interpretation of the stirring melody. We also had a second draft with selected verses that we felt resonated with all Singaporeans. We chose to emphasize the lyrics in red ("cita-cita yang mulia"/ Our noble aspirations, "dengan semangat yang baru"/with a new spirit, "Majulah Singapura"/onward Singapore) as they meant the most to us in terms of relevancy for our progressive nation.

 Second draft

 Final design

We were so happy to see the final shawl in the #My1959 campaign and now, here's your chance to win it for yourself! To take part in the giveaway, just head over to our Instagram post, like it and tell us in the comments your proudest moment when you heard and/or sang the National Anthem. We’ll pick our favorites comments to win!

Due to popular demand, we're extending the deadline to this Sunday, 15/12/2019 so hurry on down!