Best remembered as the composer of Singapore's national anthem, "Majulah Singapura" (English title: "Onward Singapore"), he also had a more than decade-long career as a composer with a Malay movie production company called Cathay-Keris Film Productions. He learned to play the flute during his primary school years; by middle school, he was proficient on drums and guitar. He moved to Singapore in his early twenties and began his music career with a Malay opera company.
