Few know that Tan Sri Zainun Munshi Sulaiman, or Ibu Zain as she is more popularly known, was a fighter for the country’s independence and a pioneer in the education and political rights of Malay women. A musical will be staged to remember her struggles. HIZREEN KAMAL writes.

Rosminah has even greater admiration for Ibu Zain after researching her life for the musical she is directing.

MENTION Malay nationalism and Malaya’s struggle for independence, and names such as Datuk Onn Jaafar and Tunku Abdul Rahman come to mind.

But there’s little mention of great women who, alongside the men, fought just as hard, in their bid to free the country from the colonisation of various powers.

One such individual is Tan Sri Zainun Munshi Sulaiman, or more fondly known as Ibu Zain.

A pioneer in the education and politics of Malay women, she was also one of the leaders of Malaya’s fledgling independence movement.
She experienced many obstacles while growing up, having gone through the British era, the Japanese Occupation, the communist insurgency, the Emergency period, the emergence of the Malayan Union and its opposition, and when Malaya finally trumpeted “Merdeka!”

As a wife, and then later as a single mother to three children, Ibu Zain went around the country rallying people to “fight” for independence.

So it is only fitting that Ibu Zain’s life be remembered, and what better way than through a musical.

Interpreting Ibu Zain’s life for the stage is director/scriptwriter Rosminah Mohd Tahir, 49.

The result is Ibu Zain the Musical, a production reliving the life and times of this woman of substance who was also a teacher and author.

It will be staged at the Panggung Sari, Istana Budaya in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 12 to 18.

“I want to show the many things Ibu Zain did at different phases of her life from childhood to her senior years,” said Rosminah.

A research team was formed late last year to put up the musical. It comprised Rosminah and her scenographer Hamzah Tahir, together with a group from Istana Budaya.

The National Archives and the RTM Museum helped them with historical documentation.

“This involved a lot of reading and listening to recorded audio tapes of Ibu Zain’s past interviews,” said Rosminah, who single-handedly tackled the entire script for this musical and ensured it followed closely the historical details of her title character’s life.

“I even went to see her son, Sulaiman Shakib, and writer Adibah Amin. We talked about the script and they okayed it without many changes,” she added.

The musical, which is to commemorate the country’s 51st independence, is made possible by CTRA Production in collaboration with the Malaysian Women Writers’ Association (MWWA).

To help transport the audience back to the past, sets, backdrops and slide shows will be used to depict historical sites.

Playing the elderly Ibu Zain is ‘80s actress Liza Othman.

Among the other members of the 40-strong cast are Datuk Rahim Razali, Catriona Ross, Ava Vanja, Hisyam Ahmad Tajuddin and Nurfatimah.

Twenty new tracks (a mixture of traditional and contemporary songs) have been composed by Istana Budaya’s Nik Nizam for the two-hour musical.

It would be interesting to watch Liza’s singing debut. She will be singing two songs — Bumbung Lindungan and Desakkan Pertiwi.

Having done a lot of research for this musical, Rosminah, who is also the head of department for theatre at the National Academy of Arts, has even greater admiration for Ibu Zain now.

“All she ever wanted was to see future generations free from colonisation, including that of the mind.

“She stressed the importance of having the right balance of academic excellence and religious knowledge,” said Rosminah, who is also MWWA vice-president.

Rosminah, whose last musical outing was Muzikal Lantai T. Pinkie in 2006, chose the vehicle of a musical instead of serious theatre to portray Ibu Zain’s life because musicals seem to be more popular nowadays for theatre-goers.

“I believe theatre is a great way to introduce past heroes to the younger generation,” said Rosminah, who last met the late Ibu Zain in 1979 at a youth leadership course in Johor.

Woman with a cause

IBU Zain was born in Nyalas, Malacca, in 1903 and died in 1989 in Muar, Johor, at the age of 86.

A founder member of Umno in 1946, by the early 1950s she became its Kaum Ibu chief, a post she held for four years. She then became an MP for a term.

But her story really began much earlier.

At 16, after obtaining her Junior Cambridge, she taught at her father’s private kindergarten in Pasuh Jayawaras, a new settlement along the Negri Sembilan-Pahang border.

Ibu Zain became a government probationary teacher at 19, and later confirmed as principal of the Sekolah Perempuan Bandar Maharani in Muar, Johor.

When she turned 24, she was promoted to superintendent of girls’ schools in Johor. It was at this time that she worked towards opening new schools for girls and persuading parents to allow their daughters to become teachers.

She also headed the Johor chapter of the Malay Women Teachers Association (MWTA) from 1930 to 1949, apart from founding the Bulan Melayu, a Jawi publication for women teachers as the counterpart to the men’s Majalah Guru.

As MWTA manager and editor of her publication, she highlighted the position of women, their education and their rights.

Thus, Umno’s early years saw a broad membership base of teachers, some of whom were her former students.

Ibu Zain also assisted Umno president Datuk Onn Jaafar in the Pergerakan Melayu Semenanjung (Malay Peninsula Movement), which preceded Umno.