A. T. Mahmud: Father of children's songs

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

Many parents sing Cicak di Dinding (Lizard on the Wall) when their children first start learning to speak. However, many never realize who composed this simple, yet beautiful song.

When the name A.T. Mahmud is mentioned, parents quickly remember the figure who has composed over 500 songs, many of which are destined to become classics.

Mahmud, born Massagus Abdullah Totong Mahmud in South Sumatra, is being talked about again after child sensation Tasya recorded an album containing his works two years ago.

"When people from Sony came to my house asking me if they could record my songs with her, I only knew Tasya as the little girl from the Pepsodent commercials," he said, refuting the belief that he tailor-made his songs for Tasya.

"I handed them my song collection, some 300 of them, and asked them to choose for themselves."

When Sony asked him how much he wanted for his songs, Mahmud asked them to price the songs themselves.

"I didn't write songs to make money, I don't really care about that kind of subject."

However, Mahmud admitted the company had been very generous to him. He was also very delighted to hear the result of the recording.

"Tasya has an innocent, very joyful style of singing," he said. "And that's hard to find in many child singers today."

The album contributed to Mahmud receiving a Mechanical Rights award from the Indonesian Foundation for Copyrighted Works (YKCI) last year.

He was named by the foundation as the artist whose songs were the most duplicated that year, which earned him Rp 100 million (US$11,110) from copyright.

Despite his success, many still do not realize Mahmud's disappointment about recent child songs, which is the only topic most of the media have interviewed him about.

Mahmud, who is happily married to 68-year-old Mulyani Sumarman, is the kind of a straight-forward person that does not hesitate to give good advice.

If today's composers of children's songs were willing to spend some time with him, they would probably get an idea on how to compose good songs.

"Children's songs aren't meant to entertain children," he said with conviction. "They can entertain themselves, they're happy. In fact, watching how happy they are can become a source of joy for us."

It is probably because of years of being a teacher that the father of three strongly believes children's songs are merely tools to teach kids and to stimulate their emotional development.

"It's like any other school subject. Math teaches kids logic, music teaches them to be sensitive."

His simple yet beautifully written, poignant Ambilkan Bulan (Get me the Moon) has certainly moved and inspired many people as it flashes out the inner child in every one of us.

"I had a happy childhood. My parents disciplined us pretty hard but they were not authoritarian," Mahmud said, adding his parents allowed him to pursue his interest in art, even though it was not exactly a prestigious profession at the time.

The son of a government official and the fifth of 10 siblings, he started to learn how to sing and act at an early age.

He also began to study music when he was 11 after meeting Ishak Mahmuddin, a young musician who was only three years older.

Mahmud and Ishak became best friends throughout the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945. During that period, Ishak taught him how to play string instruments including the guitar, bass and ukulele.

"I also wanted to learn to play the saxophone or violin, but there was no way my family could afford it," he said.

His interests in music remained a hobby even after he graduated from the Jakarta Teachers Training Institute (IKIP) in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

At the age of 23, he was teaching at teacher training schools when he began making some compositions, but they remained just notes.

A few years later, he moved to teach at a kindergarten teachers training school. In that period, many of his students asked him to compose simple songs they could teach to young children.

Cicak was among his first songs and was later used by his students who began teaching at many different kindergartens throughout the capital.

Word about his work began to spread quickly. Before he knew it, children started to sing his songs everywhere.

He gained fame after state-owned TVRI channel, the only one at the time, offered him in 1968 a chance to become the coordinator for Lagu Pilihanku (The Songs of my Choice), a singing competition on TV for children.

The next year, he hosted Ayo Menyanyi (Let's Sing) kids show where he, together with other children song writers, including Ibu Sud and Pak Dal, taught kids to sing.

After 20 years, both shows were canceled in 1988.

He enjoys his life, listening to classical music such as Mozart and Beethoven, and watching musicals such as The Sound of Music.

He also listens to pop bands Sheila on 7 and Padi.

He showed his admiration to veteran singer Chrisye, who succeeded in remaining a superstar for many years.

"The man has a strong character," he said.

Mahmud said he never had any plan to write songs for adults as there were already many good songwriters for grown-ups and he loved his songs to be sung by kids.

"School kids sometimes stop in front my house, sing my songs very happily. My God, can you imagine how incredible that makes me feel?"