Do you which island had been featured in a film produced by the Malay Film Production (Shaw Bros.) in 1950?

Hint: The title of movie is Kembar, directed by S. Ramanathan, starring Mariam and M. Amin.

Released in 1950, Kembar (directed by S. Ramanathan), is a tragic tale of mistaken identity and missed opportunity. The films presents a pair of twin sisters separated when they were young and grew up to live very different lives. While out on a family outing to watch the celebration of the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, one of the sisters, Asmah, got lost. She was found and then adopted by an old fisherman. The other sister, Asiah, however, grew up to become a famous dancer. In a chance encounter, Asmah met a wealthy man from the city, Bashir, and the tow fell in love with each other. Unfortunately, Asmah was relocated to the main island of Singapore to work as servant, causing the pair to lose contact. The desperate Bashir tried to find Asmah but was instead introduced to Asiah whom he confused for Asmah.

This film features places including Bukit Timah Turf City, ‘Great World’ Amusement Park and … an unidentified ‘Coastal Malay kampong’. Well, this ‘coastal Malay kampong happens to be one of our Southern Islands.

A few scenes from the film may help you draw the link.

IMAGE TAKEN BY US IN 2018.

Have you guessed it? If you guessed Lazarus Island, you are right!

This film was introduced to us by Cik Jalil. Cik Jalil was around 7 – 8 years when the film crew arrived to shot the scenes of stilt houses and fishermen activities for the film. According to Cik Jalil, “90% of the film was shot at Lazarus Island.”

This film also marked a special day for him because the day the film crew arrived, it “was also the first day the people of the Southern Islands were told to register themselves as Singaporeans.”

Sources and further readings:

https://sgfilmmediarep.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/kembar-1950/

https://sgfilmlocations.com/2014/09/22/kembar-1950/