How did Negaraku go from a love song to our national anthem?

The Federation of Malaya Police Band in 1953. Police bands were some of the first to play the country’s national anthem Negaraku leading up to Independence.

It’s every stage director’s greatest nightmare. You finish your show, and you get no applause.

Yet this was the predicament faced by Datin Saidah Rastam after her show, Malam Terang Bulan, premiered at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur last year. The concert, created and directed by her, was the story of our national anthem, Negaraku.