KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 – Malaysia’s legendary singer Datuk Sharifah Aini Syed Jaafar died of lung infection early Saturday morning. Sharifah Aini, who turned 61 last Wednesday, breathed her last at 1.26 am after being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Damansara Specialist Hospital since Tuesday for breathing difficulties.
Her only son, Aliff Omar Ali, close family members and friends were by her side. A close friend, Ishak Nengah told Bernama that Sharifah Aini was diagnosed with fibrosis of the lungs, also known as interstitial lung disease two years ago. “Her remains will be taken to At-Taqwa Mosque in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and will be laid to rest at Bukit Kiara Muslim cemetery after Zohor prayer,” he said.
Sharifah Aini, who was accorded the title ‘National Songstress’ or ‘Biduanita Negara’, the highest national award for a female singer in recognition of her contributions to the music industry, people and nation by Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) in 2006, began her career as a singer after winning the RTS (Radio Television Singapore) Talentime Contest through her song ‘Tiga Malam’ in 1968 at the age of 15.
Two years later at the age of 17, Sharifah Aini had her first album “Seri Dewi Malam” and this was followed by the album “Kekasih Pujaan” also in the same year. Sharifah Aini, who began singing at the age of seven, had produced albums after albums continuously, not only in Bahasa Malaysia but also in English totalling 93 altogether of which seven were English albums, with the last produced in 2006 which was a compilation album entitled “Timeless”.
In fact her songs ‘Permintaan Terakhir’, ‘Hapuslah Air Matamu’, ‘Sumber Ilhamku’ and ‘Bintang Pujaan’ were turned into soundtracks. Besides singing, Sharifah Aini began to be involved in acting at the age of 23 with her first film ‘Hapuslah Airmatamu’ together with famous Indonesian singer, the late Broery Marantika, in 1976, and two years later appeared in the film ‘Sumber Ilhamku’, ‘Bintang Pujaan’ (1981), ‘Diva Popular’ (2006) and ‘Penanggal’ (2012).
In addition, Sharifah Aini had also acted in the drama ‘Sesat’ and theatre play “Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur.” Besides winning various awards in the country, the Johor Baharu-born Sharifah Aini was also famous abroad and had won in the Asia Pacific Song Contest in 1975, and had grabbed the Best Actress award at the Asian Film Festival in Seoul, Korea in 1976 and 1977.
Last year, Sharifah Aini was conferred the ‘Anugerah Gemilang Seri Temasek” at the ‘Malam Gala Seri Temasik II’ in Singapore. Sharifah Aini, who had also emerged as champion in the Al-Quran Reciters Assembly (Tilawah Al Quran) in her childhood days, had also worked as a part-time announcer and had broken the Malaysia Book of Records as the artiste who had the longest contract with the recording company, EMI Malaysia, until today.
The songstress, who was executive director of Pods & Petals Giftlab, had married twice, the first marriage with Ali Bakar in 1981 which ended in a divorce after having a child, and later she married a corporate figure who was only known as Datuk Salleh which also ended in a divorce. Sharifah Aini was conferred the award ‘Panglima Jasa Negara’ (PJN) which carries the title ‘Datuk’ by the federal government in June 2003.
– BERNAMA
