It would have been Singaporean musical icon and composer of the national anthem, Zubir Said's 107th birthday today.

And in honour of the man who got every Singaporean singing the same tune, Google doodle has featured Zubir on the global Google.com site. Clicking on the doodle will show Google results relating to the musician.

Born on July 22, 1907, 107 years ago, in the town of Bukit Tinggi in Minangkabau, Central Sumatra, Zubir was a prolific musician who was also known for his prodigious output.

In his lengthy career, Zubir wrote soundtracks for films and composed some 1,500 songs.

In 1958, Singapore's mayor Ong Eng Guan asked Zubir to compose a song for the re-opening of Victoria Theatre.

In 1959, Singapore achieved self-government and the tune Zubir had composed, Majulah Singapura, was chosen as the national anthem.

The lyrics of the anthem were considered too patriotic initially, as it sounded as though independence was achieved through a war, rather than roundtable talks.

Writer Muhammad Ariff recalled in an interview with The Straits Times that he helped Zubir tweak the words. It was also made easy so that the Malay words could also be understood by non-Malays.

Born the eldest in a family of three boys and five girls, Zubir taught himself to play the flute and the guitar.

Zubir left home at 21 and headed to Singapore to pursue a musical career as his father was a conservative village headman who objected to his musical ambitions.

He started by playing in Malay opera, then a recording supervisor, then as a band conductor during the Japanese Occupation.

He got married and returned to Java in 1938 and returned to Singapore in 1947.

He became a freelance composer in 1948 and became part of the Malay intelligentsia using pop culture to address political and socio-economic issues in Singapore.

He died on Nov 16. 1987, aged 80. He is survived by four daughters and a son.

This is not the first time Google has had Singapore-themed doodles. Previous doodles were dedicated to Singapore's National Day and the Singapore Arts Festival.

Find Mothership.SG on Facebook and Twitter.