Asmin Mudin

Asmin supplied both melody and lyrics for “Kau Ilhamku” on Man Bai’s 1995 album. A new 2020 recording, produced and arranged by Man Bai and Mac Chew, retained those writing credits. Its life across decades illustrates the distinction between a composition and a recording: new instruments, arrangements and performances can introduce the same song to another audience.

Representative works include Man Bai’s “Kau Ilhamku” and Ziana Zain’s “Anggapanmu”, both with his music and lyrics. He wrote the lyrics of Jaclyn Victor’s “Gemilang”, composed by Aubrey Suwito and associated with the first “Malaysian Idol” competition.

“Gemilang” is a different partnership: music by Aubrey Suwito, lyrics by Asmin and vocals by Jaclyn Victor. Associated with the first “Malaysian Idol”, it won the top song award at the 20th Anugerah Juara Lagu, held in 2006. His later advocacy over royalties for ethnic songs in Sabah and Labuan addresses the need for local-language creators to receive representation and remuneration.

For Karen, he wrote the music and lyrics of “Mulakan” and lyrics including “Cinta Hello Kitty”, “Ku Tak Upaya” and “Na Na Na Nada Cinta”. He also co-composed “Akan” with Fred Chong and wrote both music and lyrics for “Unbreakable”.