弹唱人在校园的演出

圣尼格拉女校的学生和老师，欣赏弹唱人演出的感人视频，以及圣尼格拉女校学生记者写的报道

What is truly iconic of the Singapore brand? Forget about Merlion. You cannot sit back, relax and clap according its tempo, but you can do all that with Xin Yao (新谣) music.

On 3 April 2008, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School had a chance to experience a hint of Xin Yao music with 弹唱人(TCR) music station.

Xin Yao was very popular in Singapore in the 70’s and 80’s. Many songs were about friendships or school life. Xin Yao started among groups of talented and adventurous young people, many of whom were attending premiere Chinese schools in Singapore. They knew how to use music instruments like the guitar to create simple melody that everyone can sing along to and pen poetic lyrics that people could identify with. Due to its simplicity, Xin Yao gained popularity.

The secondary school students enjoyed an hour-long musical concert brought by the 弹唱人(TCR) music station, with an educational slideshow attached, describing the history of Xin Yao. Most interesting were pictures of the then baby-faced pioneers like Liang Wern Fook and Billy Koh. The students were also introduced to famous music producers like Lee Wei Song and Lee Shih Song, both of whom helped to popularise the Xin Yao genre and later expand its reach to the Asian Chinese music region.

Additionally, a presentation of the “avant-garde Xinyao” styles was also shown where the newer generation singers like Kit Chan or JJ Lin were introduced.

Between intervals, the presenters and the band played Xin Yao songs to illustrate their points. Songs like Xi Shui Chang Liu （细水长流）, The Eve before a History Exam (历史考试前夕) and Wo Men Zhe Yi Ban（我们这一班）were played. Many students were also surprised that they knew a lot of Xin Yao, despite the presumed generation gap.

The concert also rekindled the memories of many teachers. Mr Soh Chung Wei remembered that when he was in secondary school, the homegrown music of Xin Yao held as a sense of identity for Singaporeans. He also felt that Xin Yao music was a good way of remembering pointers for an examination paper like in the case of the song The Eve before a History Exam (历史考试前夕) which is composed by Liang Wern Fook, as it was about the history of China.

TCR music station in-charge, Cai Yiren, was also one of the pioneers during the Xin Yao era. Currently, he goes to schools to give educational talks on Xin Yao. Cai Yiren was also once in a band (跳动律小组), said, "Due to the trends in modern music, students now are unfamiliar with the true Singaporean music. Hence, it is important to infuse them with the knowledge."

The students have indeed benefited greatly from the concert. Seow Jia Ying, 14, expressed, "We should not take good music for granted, differing styles of music do share the same aim to express the composers' thoughts and feelings."

Report／Liu Ting Ting (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School)

 

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