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Alas, the lady with the golden voice who sang this pantun in the song Gurindam Jiwa is no longer with us. I guess one can say that love duets are a specialty of Malay popular music of another era, that of my parents' generation. There was the legendary P Ramlee-Saloma partnership, whose songs were actually penned mainly for films but they're beautiful and memorable in their own right that they can more than hold their own. And then there was the partnership of Rafeah Buang and Ahmad Jais.

But for me, and I am sure many will agree, of all Rafeah's songs and duets, none surpassed the elegant simplicity of the melody, the beautifully crafted words in pantuns and the timelessness of "Gurindam Jiwa" that she sang not with Ahmad Jais, but with R. Ismail. And like those of P. Ramlee-Saloma, it was written for a film of the same title that cast the late Nordin Ahmad and Latifah Omar as leads.

The passing of Rafeah one day short of her 55th birthday and her 32nd wedding anniversary marked another loss for the Malay cultural world. She may not be a towering cultural figure like Usman Awang, and some sections of the present-day Malay community would regard Malay music with a sneering disdain, but many, I am sure, feel deeply the loss of Rafeah.

I am thinking about people like my mother who is only a few years older than the songstress although she no longer cares much about music these days. Apart from Gurindam Jiwa , for more than three decades Rafeah has entertained us with her other memorable songs — Disebut jangan dikenang jangan , Hatiku kau curi , Udang sama udang , Kenangan di Rantau Abang , Jarinya merah and the Hari Raya staple Bila takbir bergema to mention a few. She has that mellifluous, dulcet and somewhat maternal voice which she used to great effect to convey feelings of love and melancholy in her songs.

Growing up in the late 60's and the early 70's with only the radio as a source of entertainment, I developed a liking to her songs in the same way that my parents did, I guess. In those days, singers were only heard and seldom seen. They had to rely only on the strength of their voice, talent and the aesthetic merits of their songs. It was in this environment that Rafeah Buang and those of her generation earned their place in the hearts of their listeners.

Stood out among peers

Today, with music videos, dancers prancing around irrelevantly, tacky costumes and aggressive marketing, a mediocre singer can get by and maybe achieve stardom with a lot less talent.

Even considering the conservatism of the era, Rafeah seemed to have stood out among her peers for her dignified and chaste public persona, exuding a natural grace and charm, what the Malays would term "bersopan-santun".

She gave the impression of someone who had a traditional, pious Malay upbringing. Not having the privilege of knowing her in person, I relied on Hanisah Selamat's "Belasungkawa Rafeah Buang 1947 - 2002: Lagu Rafeah abadi bersama kenangan" ( Berita Harian 25 Julai 2002) and Ku Seman Ku Hussain's "Rafeah Buang - Imej bersih ke akhir hayat" ( Utusan Malaysia 25 Julai 2002) for some of the facts on the artist's life in this piece.

Indeed Rafeah grew up in a traditional, pious Malay environment in Kampung Pisang, Singapore, which was then very much part of the Malay cultural universe and the centre of its entertainment "industry". Like her contemporaries, Sharifah Aini and Habibah Yaakob (who had a very brief musical career), Rafeah was good at Quran recitation and at berzanji (melodic narration of prophet Muhammad's life). In fact her mother had dreamt of sending her to Indonesia to become an Ustazah.

However Rafeah had secretly nurtured different aspirations. Encouraged by her father, a former musician, she entered a singing contest and won the "Bintang Satria Singapura". Her mother became supportive and cancelled her original plans after hearing her on the radio. Returning triumphantly from Kuala Lumpur with the title of "Bintang Radio", the singing contest that launched the careers of household name singers in the 60's, she was given a heroine's welcome by her kampung folks and fans at the Tanjung Pagar railway station.

She had never looked back since, winning the hearts of her listeners with a string of memorable songs. Yet, she was one of those rare individuals who are unaffected by the caprices of stardom and show business. Today's glamour-obsessed stars would probably have 'discarded' her father's simple name for something more marketable.

Married into Pahang royalty

She married a member of the Pahang royalty in 1970, a role which she obviously fitted in very well, conducting her public life in a dignified and gracious manner.

In later years, as she gradually withdrew from her singing career, she began to be actively involved in social engagements that befitted her role as a royal wife. She was active in Lembaga Perempuan Islam Pahang, Majlis Kebudayaan Negeri Pahang, Jawatankuasa Antidadah Daerah Pekan and Pergerakan Wanita Umno Pekan.

Few people are aware that Rafeah Buang had literary interest as well. She was a member of Angkatan Sasterawan 50 (ASAS 50) in Singapore. It is therefore no surprise to learn that she actually penned the beautiful lyrics of many of her songs herself. She was also a columnist for a Malay entertainment magazine for some years until quite recently. Her interest in Malay cultural traditions led her to do a historical research on the weaving traditions of Pahang and wrote a book entitled Kain Tenun Pahang .

If artists by fate are supposed to have more than their fair share of personal tragedies, Rafeah certainly qualified as one. She lost her youngest son in a traffic accident in 1993. In 1996 she underwent treatment for cervical cancer. In January this year she was again diagnosed to have cancer (whether it was related to the first one, I am not sure) and had to undergo treatments in Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur. She succumbed in her sleep on 24 July 2002 at Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Rafeah left behind husband Tengku Asmawi, her two sons and an adopted daughter.

Sharifah Aini and Ahmad Jais, fellow artists of her generation expressed their deep sense of loss at her passing. "Bagi saya Allahyarham sentiasa merendah diri, suka memberikan pertolongan dan lemah lembut. Sikapnya perlu dicontohi artis lain" commented her close fried, DJ Dave.

In today's borderless world, non-western societies are swamped by base products of American consumerist pop culture and accelerate more than ever, the demise of local cultures. In our context, traditional Malay music genres are increasingly forgotten in favour of cheap imitations of western trash. In this regard, Rafeah's passing marks a significant loss for the malay cultural world.

Here's a parting pantun from Gurindam Jiwa to remember Rafeah by :

Anak Cina memasang lukah,

Al-Fatihah.