Nona Asiah was an icon of Malay music and films in the 1950s and 1960s. Photo: Singapore National Arts Council
Singaporean music and film veteran Nona Asiah, one of the most popular singers during the golden era of the silver screen in the 1950s and 1960s, died in the early morning of July 30.
According to her son Indra Shahrir, the Cultural Medallion recipient died of old age at Changi General Hospital. As there are no official birth records, he says her age ranged between 92 and 94.
Indra, a music producer and director, tells The Straits Times: “She had been in the hospital for two months. She had a lot of complications. She had a very weak kidney, water in the lungs, and had shingles lately.”
Her body has been brought back to her house at 77 Lorong Melayu, where she lived with her younger sister and a domestic helper. She will be buried at the Muslim cemetery in Lim Chu Kang on the morning of July 31.
Her five children include eldest son Iskandar Ismail, an award-winning composer and musician who was also a Cultural Medallion recipient. He died of lung and brain cancer at age 58 in 2014.
Nona, whose real name was Asiah Aman, began her singing career during World War II while Singapore was under the Japanese Occupation. After the war, she worked closely with Singapore national anthem composer Zubir Said and sang on Radio Malaya with her late husband Ismail Kassim.
Her work in the film industry started when Zubir got her to sing for the film Chinta (1948) with P. Ramlee, the late Malaysian singer-actor who went on to become a Malay entertainment industry icon.
Her popular songs include Zubir’s compositions such as Cempaka Biru (Blue Cempaka) and Gelora Chinta (Love Surge).
In 1975, she retired from live performances, and later conducted singing and performance workshops for children in the 1980s and 1990s.
She was conferred the Cultural Medallion in 2016 and was inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame in 2022.
Her proteges include local television and music industry stalwart Najip Ali. In the early 1980s, when he was still a teenager, Nona recognised his talent and set him off on a path as a solo singer.
In 2015, Najip was the director of a tribute concert for Nona held at Esplanade Concert Hall. He tells ST: “Mak Nona was there at the beginning of my journey in the entertainment world. Directing that concert was one of my proudest moments, and it was like I had come full circle.” – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
