MUSIC&DANCE

MUSIC

The Swinging 60s
Aspiring local musicians could easily draw Western influences from Rediffusion, a form of local cable radio that took off in the 1960s. No doubt that Rediffusion created a huge following through broadcasting Chinese stories on the gold channel, the silver channel nonetheless had a huge impact by propagating Western pop music through the Rediffusion program “Top Tunes of the Week”, including the billboard “top of the pops” American charts and the “British Top 20s”. Listening to foreign songs on the radio was a way to draw inspiration to create music, since music is shaped by what people are listening and are exposed to. The Harmonicats, a popular local band in the pre-war era, confirmed this notion by professing their influence from foreign acts such as Larry Adler and the Cappy Barra Boys, all of whom were introduced to The Harmonicats through listening to radio broadcasts.

The 1960’s was such a prominent era for Singapore music because this era catered to the first wave of teenage baby-boomers who were generally more open to Western influences than their precursors. Pop music was a way for the youth of the time to break free from the older cultural traditions, and also keeping in line with Singapore’s industrializing period and the striving for a better life which resembled the US youth’s pursuit of the American Dream also in the 1960’s. Another outlet for the interaction of different cultures took place at British naval bases, where local bands would sometimes perform. The British stationed there appreciated the Western pop songs that the bands would play, and would introduce new influences to them from their European homeland.

This is an album cover of The Beatles, synonymous with the Beatlemania era.


Pop Yeh Yeh
An example of how Singapore artistes give Western culture a local twist is exemplified in bands such as The Siglap Five, who performed Western styled music in the Malay language. Such bands like The Siglap Five are known as kugirans, and have established a unique genre of music known as Pop Yeh Yeh. The British rock influence is heavily evident with the musicians’ use of electric guitars and drumsets, coupled with song lyrics largely themed with youth-inspired romantic love. Pop Yeh Yeh bands not only played songs in Malay, but would sometimes perform a whole set in English and thus further advocating Western culture. Similar to the “Beatlemania” fanfare during that time, Pop Yeh Yeh musicians were in their own regards local rock stars. Kugirans enjoyed radio airplay of their songs (and also through Rediffusion), similar to their Western counterparts. Pop Yeh Yeh fans were known to clamour over their “hometown heroes”, requesting for autographs and other memorabilia, almost as if they were foreign acts visiting from abroad!

An interesting aspect of Pop Yeh Yeh is how the kampung atmosphere existent in Singapore at the time played a major part in keeping the members of the kugiran together. The Eastern suburban kampungs (including Eunos, Siglap and Geylang Serai) were enclaves for Pop Yeh Yeh bands to gather, revelling in the gotong royong spirit of unity and neighbourliness. The kugirans had spontaneously found a unique way of incorporating Western music into local lifestyle.

Another Western ideal that is clearly expressed in Pop Yeh Yeh is the liberation of women in society. Females were increasingly given their own voice, literally by taking up lead singing roles in Pop Yeh Yeh bands. The rising music scene was also an opportunity for female dancers to take the stage, showing how women were getting less confined to the four walls of the home.

Here, we have the Malay female artiste Rosnah taking the lead in a collaboration with The Siglap Five. We can also see how dancers are given their own limelight during performances and in music videos.




State Censorship
The government, however, took a tough stance on the exponential popularity of rock-and-roll. The state implemented controls and regulations in order to restrict the influence of “decadent” Western culture in what is more commonly known as the “anti-yellow movement”. The government disapproved of the “hippie” lifestyle that Western bands such as The Beatles seemed to encourage, and the “sex, drugs and rock-and-roll” ideals had to be quashed before they proliferated into the minds of Singapore citizens (according to the state). In this way, the rock-and-roll scene lasted merely for a decade before state intervention in the late 1960s. Locals may be familiar with the ban of rock music, jukeboxes, and even long hair on males during this period. Local rock-and-roll bands, for example, had to submit their song lyrics for inspection when playing for government-sponsored events in order to prove their songs clear of Western influence.

However it has proved hard for Singapore to “pick and choose” Western elements to adopt, striking a balance between the favourable industrialization and Western style of capitalism for the nation’s economic development against the Western culture of ‘decadence’. The advent of the Internet, on the other hand, has made it now virtually impossible to police against Western media. As Singapore emulates the Western style of economic development, the society consequently becomes more affluent and educated thus relying less on the government to tell them what they should or should not listen to.

In order to promote Singapore as a world-class cultural hub, the government also has to back down on its strict restrictions on the local arts scene. The Dim Sum Dollies in particular capitalize on the broadway musical style by injecting political satire into their cabaret themed songs. One famous rendition would be the play on the name "Lee", subtly hinting to the most important figure in Singapore politics Lee Kuan Yew. Dick Lee is also another local cultural stalwart, nevertheless making huge contributions to promote Singapore in the international market, openly pokes fun of the government in his 30th anniversary concert Life Stories in 2004. Note how these artistes combine Western styles of music with local lyrics, in order to create winning hits that draw laughter and applause from the audience.





Conclusion
The malleable, fickle nature of pop music meant that styles were ever-changing, making pop music a true reflection of the times. As a modern nation, Singaporeans were very much in tune with the latest and ever-changing trends. With the fleeting nature of pop music, the Pop Yeh Yeh only lasted as long as the 1960s rock-and-roll style could. Despite this, the following trends were always largely influenced by Western culture. The 1970s saw the metal rock movement, inspired still by British music, through the likes of Def Leppard and Led Zeppelin. This new era produced another successful Malay band named Sweet Charity, and also the term “Mat Rokers” was coined to describe the new movement of Malay youth subculture. Another local band in the 2000s is Urbankarma, and their similarity with Sweet Charity and even the Pop Yeh Yeh bands is how they fuse the sound of electronic guitars with the Malay feel. The noticeable trend is how the inclination towards Western music increases as time passes, with Urbankarma playing in the more heavy rock style than Sweet Charity did. The majority of bands in the local scene now, however, have seem to lost this sense of blending the East with the West. Current bands mostly play carbon copies of Western songs or create new ones in the completely "Americanized" form, showing evidence of the cultural globalisation trend that is commonly mentioned today.









DANCE

Early start of Westernisation: dance in Hollywood film
The 1930-1950 era, coined the “Golden Age of Hollywood”, led to the overwhelming success of Hollywood cinema, whose influence has reached our Singapore shores until this day. Following the advent of sound in the late 1920s, dance was only introduced into Hollywood films since music is needed for the viewer to fully appreciate the dance in its entirety. American film studios, like MGM and 20th Century Fox, were no longer constrained to producing silent films with the new sound technology. Musicals were subsequently developed in full swing by Hollywood studios because of the newfound capability to infuse the Broadway style of music, dance and drama into a single film.

Singapore has been generally responsive in embracing external forms and technology, stemming from the drive for economic development and embrace of the Western capitalist model. In the same way, it is no wonder that the influence of vaudeville made its successful mark in local Bangsawan acts. The likes of American dance talents including Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly have arguably inspired locals to learn Western dance. The genres of dance in early US films centred around the vaudeville theatre style, which included the Charleston, tap and ballet (among many others). Tap, in particular, is an ingenious complement to music due to the focus on rhythm brought about by footwork. We can see here how Fred Astaire has popularised tap dancing through Hollywood movies, seen here in the 1946 movie Blue Skies.


40 years on, tap dancing was featured in the 1985 Singapore Armed Forces Music and Drama Company performance with an interesting twist. It is danced to a Malay song instead, showing how Singapore artistes do not just import Western influences per se but are able to suit it to local tastes.


Gramophone and dance
Local gramophone recording studios (like Chap Kuching and Chap Ayam) were set up in urban spots of Singapore from as early as the 1900s. These studios could imitate the sound of Western music because new technology comes to Singapore very quickly, which is comparable to Europe and the US. Singapore was the commercial place to stop over and make recordings in Asia, especially for recording Bangsawan music. The interconnectedness of pop culture is evidently expressed in how movie soundtracks and dance genres were incorporated into a single gramophone vinyl record, clearly through the interaction of film, gramophone recording, music and dance. The early Hollywood films were clearly an influence on local gramophone recording studios, and the gramophone records produced would include a list of songs, the movies from which the song was featured in, as well as the genre of dance the song could be danced to. This is probably a build-up and inspired by the dance scenes featured in the classic Hollywood films of the time.

Dance in schools
As a result of colonialism, Europeans have constantly been residing in Singapore through the ages and there are ought to be those who introduce aspects of their culture into society. Dance schools were set up from as early as the 1950s by dance enthusiasts who wished to propagate the craft to local society, and they catered to mostly young girls from European families but also attracted a large number of Chinese and Indian girls.

Ballet classes, in particular, have had a popular following that transcends from the 1950s until this current day. Departing from the American sphere of influence (that we have earlier seen in Hollywood films), ballet in Singapore is predominantly taught under the Royal Academy of Dance based in London. Ballet has become popular culture in Singapore today and is mostly taught in community centres island-wide, catering mostly to girls from as young as 3 or 4 years old. The dance curriculum is standardized island-wide, and the girls have to pass ballet examinations, usually carried out by approved by foreign examiners from the Royal Academy, in order to proceed to a higher grade. In short, what has resulted is a widespread acceptance and practice of this Western art form, and these ballet practitioners are able to develop a high standard of aptitude from a young age.



The annual Ballet Under The Stars is a popular event among avid dance enthusiasts ever since its inception in 1995, set up by the Singapore Dance Theatre. The attraction lies in the audience being able to enjoy picnics while watching ballet performances by local dancers on stage, sitting in the outdoors alfresco style on the grass in Fort Canning Green.





Another reason why dance has been widely popular among Singapore’s youth is because of the opportunity for students to learn dance as a co-curricular activity (CCA). There are nevertheless cultural dance clubs where students focus on the traditional genres of Chinese, Malay and Indian dance, but emerging in popularity are the Western strands of contemporary modern dance and more currently hip hop. With the inception of the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) in 1967, schools nationwide are given a platform to showcase their students’ dance proficiencies. Contemporary dance, in particular, has been a predominant dance genre categorized under “International Dance” that participating schools tend to select for the SYF, which occurs once every two years. Admittedly, this could be an important reason why contemporary dance has been prevalent in Singapore schools’ dance clubs is due to intensive preparation for the SYF. The ideal of meritocracy in Singapore has inadvertently led to the competitive nature of Singaporeans, and schools in the same way use the grading scheme set by the SYF as a benchmark to ensure their students meet the satisfactory grade (and most often than not to hit the top mark labelled “Gold with Honours”). Schools may resort to engaging contemporary dance choreographers to train their students in the genre, ensuring they attain proficiency in modern dance. This is an example of how Western culture has been adopted to suit a local context, for instance the colloquial “kiasu” mentality in Singapore schools where students pit against each other in competitions.

Here is a video of an SYF item put up by Temasek Junior College in 2005, with their modern contemporary dance item which was awarded the Gold With Honours. This is an example of the advocation of Western culture and how schools can be awarded by enabling their students to learn modern dance.


Hiphop
Hiphop dance is a fast growing trend in Singapore pop culture, largely endorsed by students and the youth. Hiphop culture originated from the US, and hiphop dancers in Singapore also explore other modern genres such as street jazz and reggae. The symbiosis of the different mass media is evident in hiphop culture’s proliferation in the MTV channel (which has its Southeast Asia broadcasting headquarters in Singapore) and also in Hollywood movies such as Honey and the Step Up sequels. Hiphop moves are prevalent in the music videos broadcasted on the MTV channel which are commonly imitated by hiphop dancers in the local scene, with dance schools currently teaching “MTV groove” hiphop classes. Dance instructors often put up videos of their classes on the Internet, providing a convenient way to promote the hiphop genre with the aid of technology. This could very well be a contributing factor to the growing popularity of this modern trend.






Unlike ethnic dance, the modernity of hiphop dance removes it from any traditional or cultural inclination and therefore hiphop is able to encompass all races, social classes, gender and language. Entertainment is brought to the heartlands, where hiphop competitions and semi-finals are frequently held in heartland malls. This has proved to be an effective way to display youth culture to the masses, especially the older generation who do not actively pursue dance unlike their younger counterparts. These competitions usually have certain themes that support the message that their sponsors are trying to spread to the public, for example the Health Promotion Board sponsoring a hip hop competition with an anti-smoking cause. The annual Danceworks competition is one such example of an established body that promote anti-drug messages by requiring that the participants’ dance items and skits adhere to an anti-drug theme. This is an attempt (usually by state authorities) to dispel the notion among youth that smoking and drugs are “cool”, and instead highlight the possibility of pairing the vibrancy of youth culture (through hiphop) together with a healthy lifestyle.

Note the choice of words in the text -- "drug-free" !


Departing from the government’s clampdown on “decadent” Western culture in the 1960s, the PAP Youth Wing has now engaged hip hop dance as an infusion of “freshness” in order to stay relevant to the next generation of Singapore citizens. Criticism has still emerged, many citing how the PAP should maintain its stance of stern political capability, instead of pandering to the post-65 generation by adopting a youthful image.

As critiqued by Hri Kumar, a Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency Member of Parliament, he said in 2008: “We do not need to dress down or dance to a younger beat – younger and older Singaporeans did not elect us because of our fashion sense or the fact that we party at Zouk … Let others pretend they are cool and hip. Let us show the difference between smart and not, between qualified and not, between honest and not.”

However, the counterargument persists that there is a need to reach out to the largely apathetic post-65 populace and mobilising the Young PAP members to engage in activities popular with the youth would perhaps be the best way to do so. Moreover, the PAP has already proved its mettle as a capable and legitimate political party and therefore can proceed to new activities in order to shed its serious, “boring” reputation among the apathetic youth in Singapore’s now affluent and developed society.

Dr Gillian Koh, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, explains: “The younger MPs were just trying to attempt something new … Whatever their image is, I think they should show in their outreach to the post-65 generation that they are there to listen and to empathise, and to effectively reflect some of these interests either in policy making or in Parliament. I think that’s what people are looking for.”


References

Burhanudin bin Buang. Pop Yeh Yeh music in Singapore : 1963-1971. Singapore: National University of Singapore. 2000.

http://mocamborainbow.blogspot.com/

http://www.pap.org.sg/articleview.php?id=3318&cid=35

Kelly Fu Su Yin. From folk devils to folk music : the metal music community in Singapore. Singapore: National University of Singapore. 2000.

Lai Wan Li. The road less travelled : amateurs in Singapore pop music scene. Singapore: National University of Singapore. 1999.

Loh Chee Kong. Let’s Skip the Hip-Hop: Forget about being cool, stick to a smart, honest PAP that listens. Today Newspaper. 4 December 2006.

Singapore Festival of Dance 83. Presented by the Ministry of Culture with the support of the National Theatre Trust.

Workshop for ASEAN Choreographers Singapore, 9-29 March, 1980: Workshop Report. Organised by the Cultural Affairs Division, Ministry of Culture Singapore with the cooperation of the National Theatre, the People's Association and the National Dance Company.