POP MUSIC IN MALAYSIA: ROCK, FAMOUS SINGERS, ISSUES

POP MUSIC IN MALAYSIA

Malay pop music began in the 1950s with P. Ramlee, a popular crooner who fused Malay donganh sayang with Cuban and Latin music and shortened classical songs and had them played with Western instruments. Other famous Malay singers from yesteryear include Zaleha Hamid, Sharifah Aini, Herman Tino and Sheila Majid. Roots musicians include Shequal and Zainal Abidin.

Popular pop singers in Malaysia include Siti Nurhaliza, "Queen of Rock" Ella, and globally recognized singer-songwriter Yuna. Current chart-toppers include Aina Abdul, Ernie Zakri, Khai Bahar, and Aizat Amdan, who dominate radio and award shows. Siti Nurhaliza: Often called the "Voice of Asia," she is arguably Malaysia's most influential pop artist. Anuar Zain is famous for his soulful pop ballads and has a string of hits that back to the 1990s.

Modern Malaysian pop is influenced by pop from Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, American soft rock and other styles in Asia. The Malaysian singer Sheila Majid, has a large following in Japan and Indonesia. The popular R&B singer Ning Baizur shocked Malaysians when she talked openly about her sexual preferences and taste in lingerie. Popular Malay group Shade sound likes an American doo-wop group from the 1950s.

These days Korean pop music (K-Pop) is very popular. Many young Malaysian women and girls are passionate fans of K-pop. In 2013, K-pop star Psy performed his 'Gangnam Style' megahit in Malaysia after being invited by prime minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition, a move widely viewed an effort to attract political support. The largest Asian market for Japanese pop-music is Taiwan, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. [Source: AFP, January 14, 2015]

Rock in Malaysia

Malaysia’s rock scene has evolved from the “rock kapak” era of the 1980s and 1990s to a diverse modern landscape of alternative and indie acts. Early rock kapak music was characterized by melodic, emotionally driven songs, strong guitar riffs, and powerful vocals. Leading figures from this period include Ella, Search, Wings, Iklim, Exists, and XPDC. Ella, known as the "Queen of Rock," has been s big star in Malaysia since the 1980s and is still popular today..

In the 2000s and beyond, Malaysian rock expanded into alternative, indie, and genre-blending styles influenced by Western punk and rock. Bands such as Bunkface, Pop Shuvit, Kyoto Protocol, One Buck Short, Bittersweet, Empty Page, and Candy represent this newer wave. Alongside these artists, distinct subgenres have emerged, including alternative pop-rock and hybrid styles such as “sambarock,” blending hard rock with traditional influences, showing the continued evolution and diversity of Malaysia’s rock music.

In January 2006, Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council banned black metal music. It ruled that the strain of hard rock, which often uses occult imagery and lyrics, could cause listeners to rebel against religion. In a crackdown on so called metal heads, the conservative Islamic government of Kedah state arrested at least 700 teenagers said to be members of a “black metal cult” that listened to heavy metal music and allegedly desecrated the Koran, slaughtered goats and drank their blood and smoked cannabis. A government spokesman said, the arrested youths “will be given counseling in stages so they will repent and leave the group. Some of those arrested were required to take a health medicine normally taken by drug addicts.

Dangdut

“Dangdut” is one of the most popular forms of pop music in Malaysia and Indonesian. It is a style of music that originated in the 1960s as an adaptation of Indian film music with some Arabic influences and still sounds like Indian film music today. It's name comes the rhythm played by the Indian-style tabla drum (“dang-dut-dang-dut-dang-dut-dang-dut-dang-dut-dang-dang”). [Sources: Rough Guide to World Music]

Dangdut blast from taxis, bemos, cafes, markets and homes. Originally it was popular among the lower classes and associated with bars where knife fights were common. The lyrics were often about frustration and rage over the inequalities of Indonesian society. Now it is embraced by the middle and upper classes.

Dangdut thrives in nightclubs attended by people from all walks of life. Describing one such place Jonathan Napack wrote in the International Herald Tribune, "The tabla drum clicks, synthesized flutes wail, a sultry woman sobs words of love. The ambience is opulent and sensual, reeking of perfume. Bollywood thrillers play on a projection television while bartenders in turbans pour beers. Men dance mostly with men, women with women."

Amelina became the self-proclaimed queen on dangdut at the age of 18. She has sold more than a half million records in Malaysia.

Yuna

Yuna is a Malaysian singer-songwriter who has achieved international success with English-language music. She has collaborated with global artists and built a following beyond Southeast Asia, helping bring Malaysian music to a wider audience.

Yuna, whose real name is Yunalis binti Mat Zara'ai Sinclair (née Yunalis binti Mat Zara'ai), first gained exposure through the viral success of her music on Myspace, which received over one million plays. This online success alerted an indie-pop label and management company to her music, and in early 2011 she signed with the Fader Label. She is best known for collaborating with Usher on her breakthrough single "Crush", which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Adult R&B chart. From 2010 to 2015, she was the second most popular female singer in Malaysia, with Siti Nurhaliza in first place and Stacy Anam in third place. [Source: Wikipedia]

Born in Kedah in 1986 and raised in the states of Perlis and Selangor to Perakian Malay parents of Buginese descent from Kuala Kangsar and Batu Gajah, she began writing songs at the age of 14. She soon taught herself to play the guitar and, in need of a creative outlet while attending law school, performed for an audience for the first time in 2006. Yuna's debut album was released in Malaysia in 2008 under the same name, and she earned five Malaysian Music Awards nominations (the Malaysian equivalent of the Grammy). She won four awards, including Best New Artist and Best Song for her breakthrough hit "Dan Sebenarnya".

After the release of her latest collaborative album, “Rouge,” and on the eve of six acoustic shows at the Blue Note in February 2020, The New Yorker reported: Rouge can be a color of love, boldness, and vibrance; for Yuna, who dropped an album named for the rosy hue in July, it seems to embody all of those things and then some. Where the singer’s earlier releases tended toward chillier sonic shades, her latest—a collaborative collection of R. & B.-infused pop as polished as it is bright—feels warm and more confident than ever, an apt progression for the Malaysian star. [Source: New Yorker February 21, 2020]

Shila Amzah and China-Malaysia Pop Exchanges

Tash Aw wrote in the New York Times: Shila Amzah is a Malaysian pop star famed as much for her fashion sense as for her powerful voice. Her vast collection of striking, multicolored hijabs has made her a style icon and a role model for young Muslim women across the country. These days, though, she sings primarily in Mandarin, and — as her 2.5 million followers on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo suggest — a majority of her fans are from mainland China.[Source: Tash Aw, New York Times, January 7, 2016]

In a country wary of Islam — the Chinese government has a fractious relationship with its ethnic Uighur minority in the western province of Xinjiang — Ms. Amzah’s popularity, which verges on superstardom, is remarkable. Xila, as she is known to her fans in China, is affable and relaxed in front of the cameras, conducting interviews in impeccable Mandarin after living only two years in China.

Yet her rise is attributable not just to her beauty, charm or wardrobe, or even to her mastery of the love ballads adored by Chinese of all ages, but to a rapidly evolving cultural relationship between China and Malaysia.Most striking of all have been the inroads — principally through pop music — that Mandarin is making with Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority. Until now, this community had little engagement with Chinese culture and language since Malaysia gained independence in 1957. Primed over the last decade by the universal appeal of Mandarin-speaking singers from Taiwan like Wang Leehom and Jay Chou, young Malaysians of all backgrounds now enthusiastically follow popular mainland Chinese talent shows like “Asian Wave” and “I Am a Singer.”

Both featured Ms. Amzah: Singing principally in Mandarin, she won one and placed third in the other. As further proof of how important pop music is to the way China’s image is changing in Malaysia, Xila — resplendent in her trademark hijab — was invited to perform for China’s president, Xi Jinping, during his last visit to the country.

Keen to foster relationships with its partners in the region, China is even encouraging a two-way flow of culture. Tuning into local radio stations recently, I discovered China Radio International’s Malay-language channel, which broadcasts programs about both China and Malaysia, including a current series on Islamic culture in China. These programs were all delivered by Chinese presenters — in flawless Malay.

Malaysia Pop Singers Arrested for Fighting and Exposing To Much Skin

In October 2009, Malaysian pop star Gary Chaw was arrested in Hong Kong after he was caught on film attacking a fellow singer in a furious rampage. Associated Press reported: “Gary Chaw was arrested for alleged common assault, then freed on bail while the case is investigated, police spokesman Lawrence Li said. Common assault carries a maximum penalty of one year's imprisonment in Hong Kong. [Source: AP, October 2009]

Chaw was filmed attacking Hong Kong singer Justin Lo in September outside a bar in Hong Kong's Central financial district. The footage, widely circulated online, showed him shoving Lo to the ground and kicking him. Chaw admitted to the attack at a news conference a day later, after the footage surfaced. "Justin did not try to injure me or hit back a single time. This was obviously not a fight. I lost control. I made the mistake that I feared the most," Chaw told reporters at the time. "I don't have any excuses. I don't have any reasons. I was plain wrong. I'm willing to accept full responsibility, full punishment," he said. Chaw started his career composing for stars like Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok and Taiwanese girl band S.H.E. He released his debut album, "Blue," in 2006.

In July 2007, Malaysia’s religious police detained a female Muslim singer at a popular club, saying too much of her back was exposed by a sleeveless blouse she wore while performing. Reuters reported: “Siti Noor Idayu Abd Moin, 24, has been ordered to go before a Sharia court at Ipoh in the northern state of Perak to face charges of “revealing her body” and “promoting vice,” the New Straits Times said. “I was surprised when the officers told me this top was too revealing,” Noor Idayu said after being released from a night’s detention on a bond of 1,000 ringgit ($290). “Sometimes I wear something similar when I go out in the day. This is sexy? I don’t think so.”[Source: Reuters, July 7, 2007]

The singer was picked up along with four members of her band, and subjected to repeated breathalyser tests by officials in futile attempts to prove she had drunk liquor, the paper said. “When I passed the test, the female officers seemed disappointed and asked me to do it again,” Noor Idayu said. “I did so willingly as I knew that I did not drink. Not once in my three years of singing in clubs have I drunk liquor.” “A Muslim woman is not allowed to serve or entertain a man who is not her husband in a place where immoral activities usually take place,” Jamry Sury, chief of the Perak religious police who raided the club, told the Star newspaper.

Siti Nurhaliza

Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin (Siti Nurhaliza) is a leading Malaysian singer-songwriter who rose to fame after winning a national singing competition as a teenager. She has achieved widespread success across Asia, performing internationally, including at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Often described as one of the region’s top vocalists, she has also expanded into business ventures.

Siti Nurhaliza is one of the best-selling and most famous artistes in Malaysia. As of teh early 2000s, she had garnered more than 200 local awards as well as international awards. Having been in the local music scene since the mid 1990s, Siti has recorded more than 15 albums and staged 20 big scale concerts in the country and abroad. Today, she is also an album producer, a songwriter, a TV host and an entrepreneur. [Source: Hizreen Kamal, New Strait Times, March 22, 2013 |=|]

Hizreen Kamal wrote in the New Strait Times, “She won the hearts of the public after winning a singing competition Bintang HMI in 1995. She was 16. A year later, her eponymous debut album was released. Juggling work and school at the start, she almost pulled out of Juara Lagu in 1996. But she didn’t and her song, Jerat Percintaan (composed by Adnan Abu Hassan) won Best Song, turning the fourth of eight siblings into an overnight sensation. After this, there was no stopping Siti. By 1997, she had made a remarkable breakthrough in Indonesia and became well-known in many parts of Asia. |=|

“At 19, she established Siti Nurhaliza Productions (M) Sdn Bhd which acted as the official management production to handle and manage her schedule. She also made her first and biggest appearance on the international stage during the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur, where she shared the stage with two international stars — Celine Dion and Rod Stewart — during the closing ceremony. It was televised in 70 nations and propelled Siti into the international arena. |=|

“She received one of her first international winnings in an international singing competition when she took part in Shanghai Asia Music Festival 1999 in China and won the Gold Award for Asia New Singer Competition. In March 2000, her first concert outside the country was at Harbour Pavilion in Singapore. It outsold Mariah Carey’s Rainbow World Tour which was scheduled five days earlier, even though the most expensive ticket price was much higher than Mariah‘s. |=|

Siti took part in Voice Of Asia 2002 in Kazakhstan where she performed one of her singles from her third album, Purnama Merindu, and grabbed the Grand Prix Champion title, the ultimate prize. She became the first non-Chinese artiste to be invited to perform at the 15th Golden Melody Awards, Taiwan in 2004. And in 2005, she was dubbed The Voice Of Asia, as introduced by Alicia Keys at MTV Asia Aid in Bangkok, Thailand, due to her powerful vocals and her outstanding achievements locally and internationally. The same year, Siti held a successful solo concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. British Press compared her performance to those of Celine Dion and cited her as Asia’s Celine Dion. |=|

“On October 24, 2006, she was conferred the title Datuk after receiving the Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang award from the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah on his 76th birthday. She also had her own self-titled 13-episode talk show in 2011. In September the same year, she released her first English album All Your Love, produced by her stepson, Adib Khalid. |=|

Siti has collaborated with many renowned Asian artistes such as Cambodian singer Preap Sovath, and popular Indonesian acts Agnes Monica, Chrisye, Dewa 19, Gita Gutawa, Harvey Malaiholo, Krisdayanti, Marcell, Melly Goeslow, Padi, Peterpan and Rossa. Others include Taufik Batisah (Singapore), Wang Lee-Hom (Taiwan), Palmy (Thailand), Lam Trung (Vietnam) and Gareth Gates (UK) during MTV Asia Awards 2004. From 2011 and 2012, she recorded songs with Sean Kingston and Christian Alexanda from Australia, and Sami Yusuf (UK). She has also performed with Donnie Radford of The Platters last year for a charity event in support of Breast Cancer awareness. In January 2012, a documentary on her life was aired on History Channel.” |=|

Wedding Siti Nurhaliza

It was big news in Malaysia when pop princess Siti Nurhaliza Taruddin got married in a ceremony that was broadcast on television. Associated Press reported: “Malaysia's pop icon sweetheart Siti Nurhaliza Taruddin, 27, married a businessman two decades her senior in a lavish wedding ceremony steeped in Malay tradition and broadcast live on television. Dressed in a white Malay costume with silver embroidery and encrusted with blue crystals, a veil and a tiara, Siti sat a distance away from divorcee Khalid Mohamed Jiwa while a Muslim religious leader pronounced them husband and wife. "I accept her hand in marriage, with the dowry of 22,222 ringgit ($6,061)," Khalid said, sealing the ceremony held the Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan mosque in central Kuala Lumpur, aired live on Malaysia's largest private network, TV3. [Source: AP, August 22, 2006 ^+^]

“Siti did not speak during the ceremony. Instead, a man appointed by her father stated her intent to get married. The wedding will culminate in a grand dinner reception on Aug. 28 in Kuala Lumpur and another reception in Siti's hometown in central Pahang state on Sept. 3 for family and fans. The couple's announcement of their marriage was also carried live by the network on a women's television program last month. The bride and groom's sides earlier exchanged about 16 gilded silver and gold trays of "hantaran" — elaborate gifts like silver wedding rings and decorative items that serve as welcoming presents in Malay culture — while representatives from both sides traded love poems and ditties. ^+^

“The pair had been the talk of the town for more than a year, but both had been tightlipped over their romance. Malaysian newspapers dedicated pages to news and features on Siti's wedding after the couple formally announced it. The wedding follows the finalization of Khalid's divorce from his first wife, Tengku Zawyah Tengku Izham. They have four children, ages 8 to 19. Siti, one of Malaysia's top-selling artists, has won numerous awards both at home and in regional competitions since she launched her career in 1996. She is a household name in Malaysia, but also has significant followings in neighboring Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. Her wedding has also generated interest in Indonesia, where the couple plans to host another reception. The reception to be held there is expected to be aired over a television station there. Details were not immediately available. ^+^

In 2013, Siti shared the stage last night with 10-time Grammy Award-winning American R&B musician, singer-songwriter and record producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds at the SapuraKencana Petroleum Malaysia Grand Prix Charity Gala 2013 at the Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur. This was the second time that she performed “live” in a duet with an international star. Her first was with British star Gareth Gates at the 2004 MTV Music Award Asia in Singapore.

Siti is active on Instagram, an online photo-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as media sites including Facebook or Twitter. She has uploaded and modelled different styles of head scarves, and her fans have commented positively on them.

Devoted Siti Nurhaliza Nurses Her Sick Husband

In late 2012, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza cancelled all her engagements to care for her husband after he injured in a bicycle accident in New Zealand. Hizreen Kamal wrote in the New Strait Times, “Everything came to a standstill for Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin in December 2012 when her husband, Datuk Seri Khalid Mohamad Jiwa (a.k.a. Datuk K), was involved in an accident while riding a bike with a friend in New Zealand. At the time, she was busy touring in Indonesia. She had other singing engagements planned for the months ahead, but nothing else mattered at that point and all she wanted was to be with her husband, who suffered a broken shoulder and arm and had to undergo multiple corrective surgeries. “Datuk K is recuperating well. He is at home and his condition has improved greatly since his operation in New Zealand. Even the doctors attending to him here said that they were happy with his progress,” said 34-year-old Siti recently. [Source: Hizreen Kamal, New Strait Times, March 22, 2013 |=|]

She said putting her career on hold was something that she had to do. “It is a wife’s duty and I don’t have to think twice about it,” she said. Siti, donning a full hijab (head cover), she was all smiles when talking about Datuk K’s improving condition. “In the beginning, he could not use his right hand much due to the injury. This limited his movements especially when eating and bathing. Of course, he was a little frustrated as he’d always been an active person,” said Siti who was recently honoured with the On-Stage Award at the recent ntv7’s Bella Awards. During this time, he had to rely on her to feed him, help him shave, make sure he took his medication and other things. |=|

“After undergoing daily physiotherapy, his arm is now stronger and he is able to do almost all the activities on his own. His spirits are up and he goes to the gym regularly to tone his muscles,” said Siti, adding that all that workout had also helped Datuk K lose some weight. It must have been a trying time for her. Not one to complain and whine (she’s known for her undefeatable spirit and iron will) she saw her break from the industry as a blessing as it allowed her to spend more quality time with Datuk K. “His well-being is my priority. So I don’t see it as a burden,” she said. But she admits that one thing she misses is going on regular dates with Datuk K.“I cannot wait for him to be well again so that we can start going out as a couple.”

Now that Datuk K has fully regained strength in his arm, they have agreed that Siti should get back to work. “My schedule will start to pack again next month,” she said. “There are Secretaries Week performances, Tahajjud Cinta charity dinner and a trip to Legoland in Johor with lucky Simplysiti users.”

Siti decided to wear the hijab on her 34th birthday in January 2013. “I had always wanted to wear a full hijab since performing the haj (pilgrimage) with my husband in 2007,” she said.She has been wearing partial head covers at official singing engagements and other events. “This (wearing a hijab) marks a new beginning for me as a Muslimah and a wife. My husband loves my new look too,” she added.

When asked if she planned to come out with her own hijab line, Siti said that while the idea sounded tempting, she was still unsure. “Normally, when I have a new design idea for a head scarf, I will draw it on a piece of paper and give it to them (local fashion designer duo Rizman Ruzaini who work on her ensembles for official functions). They will then incorporate it into their designs. So I guess, we will have to see how it goes,” she added.

Malaysian Girls Threatened with Arrest for Hugging K-Pop Band Members

In January 2015, a group of Muslim girls in Malaysia was threatened with arrest after a video emerged of them hugging members of the K-pop boy band B1A4. The incident prompted debate with Islamic conservatives denouncing both the popular Korean K-pop genre and the girls themselves and other saying their response was excessive.[Source: AFP, January 14, 2015]

According to local media reports, official Muslim-purity enforcers gave the girls one week to turn themselves in or face arrest. In the video, the band members can be seen bringing female fans wearing Islamic headscarves on stage during an event in Kuala Lumpur. They sing to the fans and cuddle them, and one band member even kisses a fan on the forehead.

Malaysian Islamic civil law includes strict codes of conduct regarding public displays of affection. "This video shows how ignorant many of our girls are about our religion and how they do not know the boundaries...", wrote one Facebook user. 'The girls should be punished,' said another. A local Islamic group claims that K-pop is part of a Christian agenda to infiltrate and influence young Muslims.

Amid the controversy, a satirical cartoon with Malay-language captions appeared on Facebook glorifying women who joined Islamic militants in Syria, while condemning female Muslim K-pop fans for supposedly degrading the religion. By Wednesday afternoon, it had received more than 13,000 likes.

While many condemned the girls' actions, others felt the authorities were overreacting. Prominent human rights activist Ambiga Sreenevasan tweeted that arresting the girls would "traumatise them for the rest of their lives". The organisers of the concert have apologised for the incident.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings; 1993; New York Times; Washington Post; Los Angeles Times; Smithsonian magazine; Encyclopedia.com; National Geographic; Live Science; Malaysia Tourism websites; Malaysia government websites; UNESCO; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Natural History magazine; Times of London; Library of Congress; The Conversation; The New Yorker; Time; BBC; CNN; Reuters; Associated Press; AFP; Lonely Planet Guides; Google AI; Wikipedia; The Guardian and various websites; books and other publications.

Last updated May 2026