The 1980s were an era when Singapore’s Chinese songwriting scene flourished. The period also saw the emergence of xinyao — a new genre of local Chinese songs. In the beginning, xinyao was merely a channel for songwriters here to express their feelings rather than a proper musical movement. Still, there was no lack of talent or ambition among young xinyao aficionados.

Representative xinyao titles

In terms of musical style, early xinyao seemed to have been influenced and inspired by modern folk songs that emerged from the Vietnam War during the 1960s, as well as Taiwanese campus folk songs of the 1970s. However, cultural and historical differences imbued xinyao with its own distinct essence and spirit, which reflected Singapore’s unique social and cultural context.

Meanwhile, songwriters like Li Hua (Li Xuexun) and Huai Hua (Yin Guoqi) penned nostalgic hits in the style of 1970s songs about missing home, such as Chai chuantou (Cha Chun Tau)1 and Guxiang de huainian (Longing for Home).

Other songs with a similar musical style

  • Li Hua (music) and Wang Lei (lyrics), A! Baota (Ah! Pagoda)
  • Li Hua (music) and Ted Hughes (lyrics translated by Zou Jiang), Mengxiang (Fantasy)
  • Ge Huo (lyrics and music), Songxing (Farewell)
  • Fang Ge (music), Chuangqian (By the Window)
  • Bin Xu (music) and Tie Xiong (lyrics), Ku you (Crying for a Friend)

National Theatre Songwriters Society’s “Our Songs”

During the same time, the National Theatre Composers’ Circle set up in 1980, began publishing a compilation series called Women de ge: Xinjiapo gequ chuangzuo (Songs by Singapore Composers) in the early 1980s. This series was a comprehensive collection of locally composed Chinese songs that featured key works of that era.

Launch of Songs by Singapore Composers, Vol. 7, 1983. Courtesy of Phoon Yew Tien.

Collection of hits from Songs by Singapore Composers in the 1980s

Another representative song from the 1980s was Yinyue de huoyan (Flames of Music), a song that renowned musician Lee Howe (1915–2009) wrote for the concert commemorating the 30th anniversary of Lee Howe Choral Society.2

Lee Howe, 1974. Reproduced with permission from SPH Media Limited.

In 1984, the Singapore Arts Festival and the local Chinese theatre groups presented a play, The Oolah World, for which Singapore composer Phoon Yew Tien wrote three solo and choral pieces, with lyrics by Han Lao Da, namely Yue shi guxiang ming (Brighter is the Moon of Home), Yiqie dou neng jia (Everything Can Be False), and Caiyao ge (Gathering Herbs).

Then, in 1986, Leong Yoon Pin composed Jiuge (Nine Songs), an innovative full-scale choral piece based on the poem of the same name by Chinese poet Qu Yuan.

By the 1990s, traditional Chinese choral groups such as Lee Howe Choral Society, Herald’s Choral Society, Metro Philharmonic Choir, Le Yue Chamber Choir, and Melo Art Choir3 were facing a decline as the number of members dwindled. What emerged instead were younger choral groups which tended to be more Westernised in terms of songs and styles, in both classical and modern pieces.4 Many of the performances were also acapella formats, in stark contrast with the Chinese traditional choirs that typically required piano accompaniment. Changes in Singapore’s language and education landscape, where English had become the medium of instruction, also led to a sharp decline in new Chinese choral works in the 1990s. Despite these changes, there were still some new pieces that were written in the same vein as the earlier works.

Local Chinese songs of the 1990s written in the earlier style

  • Huai Hua
    • Wo yuan huazuo yiye bianzhou (I Wish I Were a Little Boat) (lyrics by Qin Zhen)
    • Xinshang you ni de shengyin (Your Voice Upon My Heart)
    • Xinjiapo he xiao yequ (Singapore River Serenade)
  • Yao Qi
    • Yixiang de yue (Moon in a Foreign Country)
    • Yinye (Silvery Night)
    • Likai (Leaving) (lyrics by Luo Yahui)
    • Huabo shan (Mount Faber) (lyrics by Huai Hua)
  • Cai Peiqiang
  • Leong Yoon Pin
    • Wo yuanyi shi jiliu (I’d rather be a Rapid Flow) (lyrics adapted from a poem by Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi (1823-1849) and translated by Sun Yong)

Chinese songwriting in the new millennium

In the 2000s, besides pop songs that were succeeded from xinyao, local Chinese songwriting in the traditional and classical style went into a decline. Noteworthy exceptions were Leong Yoon Pin’s Shandi zuge (Folk Flute Vocal Suite)5 written based on the score of the ancient flute in 2015, as well as Huayu (Confucius Cantata), a 10-movement choral work with music by Phoon Yew Tien and lyrics by Chong Wing Hong that was commissioned for the Singapore Festival of Arts 2001.

Under its successive presidents Lee Yuk Chuan, Quek Yong Siu and incumbent Chiew Keng Hoon, the Association of Composers (Singapore), formerly the National Theatre Composers’ Circle, has continued to publish Songs by Singapore Composers, which compilation includes works that are more varied and refreshing than those previously published.

Representative works in Songs by Singapore Composers after 2000

  • Chiew Keng Hoon
    • Taiyang luo le (The Sun has Set) (anonymous lyricist)
    • Shui zhong hua (Flower in the Water) (lyrics by Chiang Hsun)
    • Moqi zhi ge (Song of Tacit Pact) (lyrics by Xian Guodong)
  • Quek Yong Siu
  • Lim Ah Leck
    • Jiaru woshi yipian yun (If I were a Cloud) (lyrics by Liang Jinquan)
    • Pugongying (Dandelion) (lyrics by Wang Xinhua)
  • Xian Guodong, Women gede name yuan (We Are So Far Apart) (lyrics by Wang Lei)
  • Zhen Yanrong, Zizhizhe ming (He who Knows Himself is Wise) (lyrics by Lao Zi)
  • Wu Jie, Zheli shi women de tudi (This is Our Land) (lyrics by Shi Shunyi)
  • Lee Ngoh Wah, Yongmei (Ode to Plum Blossoms) (lyrics by Mao Zedong)
  • Lee Kee Hoi, Xiying qianxi (Welcoming the Millennium) (lyrcis by Wang Shuhua)
  • Lee Yeuk Chuan, Meihao xingfu xinshiji (Beautiful and Happy New Century)
  • Wang Xin, Xinjiapo, wo wei ni gechang (Singapore, I Sing for You)
  • Wu Qiren, Xinjiapo, wo qin’ai de zuguo (Singapore, My Beloved Homeland)
  • Poh Choon Ann, Chuanchuan huiyi (String of Memories) (lyrics by Sun Yi)
  • Huang Xinyong, Kejing de baiyi tianshi (Salute to the Nurses)
  • Xiao Chuanyuan, Dieyu (Butterflies’ Whispers) (lyrics by Liu Mengyin)
  • Liu Bin
    • Ni zhizhe taiyang qishi (You Swear by the Sun) (lyrics by Wen Yiduo)
    • Song (An Ode) (lyrics by Shen Congwen)

In 2020, Phoon Yew Tien collaborated with poet Lin Zi and produced a series of songs that reminisced about their hometowns in Singapore and Malaysia. These include solo pieces such as Yihai nian jiwang (Wishes for the Year of Yihai), Kunlun lang (Waves of Kunlun), Sanyue liuhuo (Third Month’s Fire), Taiping hu (Taiping Lake), Ouran (Chance Upon), Yujian (Encounter), Jia (Family), Chun (Spring), ), Qiu (Autumn), Zaochen (Morning), and choral pieces such as Chuntian hu (Spring Lake), Dujuan hua (Azaleas), Fengyue youqing (Love of the Breeze and the Moon), Jinian ce (Autograph Book), Na yipian qing caodi (That Patch of Green Fields), Yuandan (New Year’s Day), Yinghuochong (Fireflies), Pugongying (Dandelions), and Qingyuanchun — daonian xiaoshi de huaxiao (Spring in a Pleasure Garden — Remembering the Chinese Schools).6

Singapore has produced a good number of original Chinese songs from the 1930s to the 2000s, which reflected the sociocultural trends, aesthetic sensibilities and intellectual imprints of the times, with quality of the works also gradually improving due to enhancements in the learning environment and quality of teaching staff. Songs were still mainly written in numbered musical notation and stave, and performed in styles such as acapella (be it solo or choral), as well as solo, duet and choral works with piano, accordion or Chinese music ensemble accompaniment. Later, works were also written for vocal solo and a fuller choir accompanied by professional Chinese orchestras or symphony orchestras. On the whole, Chinese songs written in Singapore have kept up with the times and continued to improve in quality.