Daisy E. Devan (1928-2009) was a Singaporean businesswoman and producer, called "Singapore's Mother Music".Johari, Khir
"A Tribute to Singapore's Mother Music"
''Passage'' (September/October 2017): 16. She was inducted into the

Singapore Women's Hall of Fame The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an ...

posthumously, in 2018. She was also the executive producer of the original recording of

Majulah Singapura "" is the national anthem of Singapore. Composed by Zubir Said in 1958 as a theme song for official functions of the City Council of Singapore, the song was selected in 1959 as the nation's anthem when it Self-governance of Singapore, attaine ...

, Singapore's national anthem, when Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965.

Early life

Devan was born in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, the daughter of Indian parents.

Career

Devan worked in the

rubber industry Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

with Société des Matieres Premieres Tropicales, before becoming involved in the music business. She was Artistes and Repertoire Manager of

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

in Singapore beginning in 1957. Her discoveries included

The Quests The Quests was a Singaporean pop band. Founded in 1961 by guitarist Chong Chow Pin, lead guitarist Raymond Leong, bassist Henry Chua, and drummer Lim Wee Guan, they are considered the most successful Singapore band of the 1960s. History Fo ...

and , and she promoted the work of Kartina Dahari,

Anita Sarawak Ithnaini binti Mohamed Taib (born 23 March 1952), better known by her stage name Anita Sarawak, is a Singaporean singer. Early years Anita is the only child of actor and director S. Roomai Noor and actress Siput Sarawak. Her parents separated w ...

, Taiwanese singer

Tracy Huang Tracy Huang (; born 29 August 1951) is a Taiwanese singer. Huang began her career in music with the Thunderbird Choir, alongside Su Rui. After she left the group, Huang spent two years in Taichung, at an American military base, where she lear ...

, and

Sharifah Aini Sharifah Aini binti Syed Jaafar (2 July 1953 – 5 July 2014), better known by her stage name Sharifah Aini, was a Malaysian singer, known as ''Biduanita Negara'' or "National Songstress" after the late Salmah Ismail (Saloma). She won first p ...

. She also set up Singapore's first record-pressing factory in Jurong, as well as several EMI retail outlets. In addition to popular music, Devan recorded traditional Malaysian music in various languages and genres. In 1965, she produced the first official recording of Singapore's national anthem. After she retired from the music business in 1981, she and her husband ran a

health food store A health food store (or health food shop) is a type of grocery store that primarily sells healthful foods, organic foods, local produce, and often nutritional supplements. Health food stores typically offer a wider or more specialized selectio ...

. Devan was one of the founders of Singapore's Business and Professional Women’s Club. She was a judge for ''Discovery Talentime 1975'', a musical talent contest on

Radio Television Singapore Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. It is headqua ...

Personal life and legacy

Daisy Devan was married to Albert Devan. She had been a widow for sixteen years when she died at her home in

Clementi Clementi may refer to: People * Aldo Clementi (1925–2011), Italian composer * Carlo Mazzone-Clementi (1920–2000), Italian actor and mime * Cecil Clementi (1875–1947), British colonial administrator, Governor of Hong Kong and Straits Sett ...

in 2009, aged 81 years. In 2017, a program about Devan, ''When Mother Music Comes to Tea'' by

Khir Johari Mohamed Khir bin Johari (; 29 January 1923 – 19 November 2006) was a Malaysian politician and the former Minister of Education (Malaysia), Malaysian Minister of Education. Born on 29 January 1923, in Alor Setar, Khir received formal educati ...

, was featured at the

Singapore International Festival of Arts Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. It is organised bArts House Limitedfor the National Arts Council. The festival is usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month and incorporates th ...

. In 2018, she was posthumously inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* Sarena Hashim
"EMI, Where Dreams Came True"
''Reminiscences'' (May 5, 2014). A blogpost about Devan, by one of the artists she mentored. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Devan, Daisy 1928 births 2009 deaths Singaporean Christians Singaporean record producers Music industry executives 20th-century Singaporean businesspeople 21st-century Singaporean businesspeople 20th-century Singaporean businesswomen 21st-century Singaporean businesswomen