National Anthem of Singapore (Singapura) - “Majulah Singapura”

The national anthem was written in the wake of nationalism during 1956-57. Its composer and author, Zubir Said, had written it on the basis of two words, “Majulah Singapura” or “Onward Singapore”, as a theme for the city council’s official functions. It was first performed in 1958 at the Victoria Theatre. After Singapore attained self-government, the song was slightly rewritten and was reintroduced in 1959, at the installation of the new head of state and the introduction of the state (later national) flag. The anthem was used as a state song within Malaysia, of which she was a part of, and was adopted as a national anthem in 1965 upon independence.

In 2000, the anthem underwent a slight change in that the official arrangement was made more solemn and inspiring. The new version, arranged by Phoon Yew Tien, was officially recorded at the Victoria Concert Hall in November of that year (where the first performance took place 42 years earlier) and was officially unveiled in January 2001.

On December 3, 2019, a much newer recording of Majulah Singapura by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra was released with improvements in sound quality. This new version was first broadcast at National Gallery, exactly 60 years after the anthem was first released. In addition, this version is 5 seconds shorter than the 2000 version. The new version was recorded at The Esplanade Concert Hall on August 7, 2019. The new recording still uses Yew Tien's arrangement, albeit with younger voices.

Although Singapore has four official languages (Malay, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil), the anthem is only to be sung in the original Malay lyrics, not any translation, as Malay is indigenous to the region and is designated the National Language.

(description c/o nationalanthems.info, with additions by yours truly)