National Day Parade 2024 Theme Song - Not Alone [Official Music Video]

NDP 2024 Theme Song - 

Not Alone [Official Music Video]

Check this one below:

A present from Freda Hanum,

KL Malaysia. 

Thanks so much Freda 

for this National Day gift.

Check this one below:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/national-day-songs-singapore-lyrics-kit.htm

Singapore Is Home @ 58 Years Young! Happy Birthday! Says Kit Chan With Lyrics

   UP TO 8,400 VIEWS 

16 CHATS, COMMENTS

Wishing All Blog Readers, Friends,

Contributing Writers 

A Happy National Day 2023!

Kit Chan - Home (25th Anniversary Remake) 

(Official Music Video)

Banshee Empire.

Whenever I am feeling low

I look around me and I know

There's a place that will stay within me

Wherever I may choose to go

I will always recall the city

Know every street and shore

Sail down the river which brings us life

Winding through my Singapore

Chorus:

This is home truly

Where I know I must be

Where my dreams wait for me

Where that river always flows

This is home surely

As my senses tell me

This is where I won't be alone

For this is where I know it's home

When there are troubles to go through

We'll find a way to start anew

There is comfort in the knowledge

That home's about its people too

So we'll build our dreams together

Just like we've done before

Just like the river which brings us life

There'll always be Singapore

Repeat Chorus:

For this is where I know it's home

For this is where I know I'm home...

Singer/Composer: 

Kit Chan/Dick Lee.

From Freda Hanum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

Member of 'The Teepees' Pop Group.

PM Lee Hsien Loong's selfie with 

blogger Andy at the Botanical Gardens

Connect to others:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2023/06/ndp-2023-theme-song-shine-your-light.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/national-day-songs-singapore-lyrics-kit.html

China's National Anthem: (中国国歌) Edwin Goh Remembers!

UP TO 1,700 VIEWS, 10+ COMMENTS

I have asked this friend, a Historian and also a former director at RELC Singapore, to tell me why he loves the national anthem of China. He explains that it is only the music, lyrics and vitality of the song that he appreciates.

As a child, he used to live in the central area of Singapore and would be listening to it every day, five days a week. You know how a melody affects the listener when it is played repeatedly. It just sticks in the mind. He knows it as Qilai (起来) or 'rise up'. This story goes back to 1945 and he was about 7 years young.

              Anthem of China - 中国国歌 - Video: balancedaustralia

"Here's my story of my first encounter with what became China's National Anthem. It was the end of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore. I was barely five when the Chinese school on a hill above my attap and timber house would end the day with the Qi Lai song blaring from a loudspeaker. 

Not long after, the song was no more: it was banned by the British colonial government. But it lingered on in my memory over many years. 

Today thanks to the internet I can sing the whole song as a tribute to a people who have risen to great heights of achievement from the depths of imperialism, disunity and poverty."

An Original Post: Edwin Goh.

Pinyin:
Qilai! Buyuan zuo nuli de ren men, 
Ba women de xuerou zhucheng women xin de chang cheng. 
Zhonghua ! Minzu dao liao zui weixian de shihou, 
Meigeren beipo zhe fachu zuihou de housheng. 
Qilai! Qilai! Qilai!
Women wanzhong yixin, 
Mao zhe diren de paohuo, 
Qianjin! 
Mao zhe diren de paohuo, 
Qianjin! Qianjin! Qianjin! Jin! 

English:
Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves; 
With our very flesh and blood 
Let us build our new Great Wall! 
The peoples of China are in the most critical time, 
Everybody with one mind, 
Brave the enemy's gunfire, 
March on! 
Brave the enemy's gun must roar his defiance. 
Arise! Arise! Arise! Millions of hearts ire, 
March on! 
March on! 
March on, on! 

Copyright: 
Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher.

Disclaimer:

The writer recalls a song he appreciates. There is no political agenda to this posting; peace is the key to a better world.

Source: 
https://www.lyricsondemand.com/n/nationalanthemlyrics/chinanationalanthemlyrics.html

Images: Google.
YouTube Video from balancedaustralia.

Stronger Together - National Day Parade Theme Song 2022 [Official Music Video]

Taufik Batisah

National Day Parade 2022 Theme Song - 

Stronger Together [Official Music Video]

UP TO 700 VIEWS B4 NDP

Music and Lyrics by Don Richmond

Performed by Taufik Batisah 

ft. The Island Voices

Directed by Lindsay Jialin

Produced and Arranged by

Bani Hidir and Don Richmond 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IScTJbj_6kc

Singapore Patriotic English Songs:

Count On Me Singapore

Five Stars Arising

It's The Little Things

Moments of Magic

One People, One Nation, One Singapore

Singapore Town

Singapura Sunny Island

Song For Singapore

Stand Up For Singapore

There's No Place I'd Rather Be

We Are Singapore

What Do You See?

Will You

Home...

and many more!

Blog's Special National Day Feature

Through The Years With The Silver Strings & Andy.

PICTORIAL MUSIC GALLERY:

Click connections below:

[1] Debut at Celestial Room Orchard Road 1964

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/05/1965-amber-mansion-celestial-room.html

[2] Xmas Showrama at National Theatre 1964

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/06/whole-gang-performed-within-night-at.html

[3] Opening Act for: Rolling Stones in Singapore 1965

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2018/03/rolling-stones-celebrate-chap-goh-meh.html

The Silver Strings first line-up [from left]:

Wilfred, Danny Boy, Andy, Audie, David - 1964.

[4] Reliving Singapore in the 1960s - A Newspaper Article by B. Rozario

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2015/01/reliving-singapore-in-60s-by-brigitte.html

[5] Malay Pop Yeh Yeh Group 'The Swallows' with Andy 1964

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/04/melayu-pop-yeh-yeh-60an-swallows-with.html

Kugiran Melayu The Swallows dengan Andy 1964

This list will continue with other SG music history

 till National Day 2022. Check it out often.

The Road Ahead - National Day Song 2021 - Challenging Times

UP TO 14,000 VIEWS👍

NDP 2021 Theme Song

The Road Ahead [Official Music Video]

Linying, Sezairi, Shye, Shabir

The Road Ahead

Music and Lyrics by Linying and Evan Low

Production and arrangement by Evan Low and Linying

Performed by Linying, Sezairi Sezali, Shye-Anne Brown and Shabir

Directed by Huang Junxiang and Jerrold Chong

Verse 1

One man on an island

One drop in the sea

All it takes to set a wave in motion

Is a single word, an action

A hope that we can be

The change that we’ve been

longing to see

Pre Chorus

For our home, our land, our family

It’s all within our reach

Chorus

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it’s the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we’ll do it again

Verse 2

When the moments turn to hours

And the day’s last light is gone

Look around us always and remember

There were times we were uncertain

But we just kept walking on

It’s always darkest just before the dawn

Chorus

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it’s the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we’ll do it again

Bridge

Our home, the home we share

Where the garden always grows toward the light

Though the road ahead is daunting,

I know we’re gonna be alright

Chorus

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it’s the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we’ll do it again.

Ministry of Defence Singapore Video 

How Your NDP Flag Is Flown. Check it out.

[Many thanks to the various NDP Teams for the use of the above videos, song, images and lyrics for this special posting.]

A Happy National Day to all Singaporeans.

Blogger Andy has  

witnessed many parades.

Check the 2022 NDP Song by Taufik Batisah:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2022/06/national-day-parade-2022-theme-song.html

Majulah Singapura: Ramli Sarip & Six Anthems Before

So here it is Majulah Singapura with a different feel by Ramli Sarip.

Singapore went through quite a number of national anthems before Majulah Singapura (composed by the late Che Zubir Said). We sang God Save The King, then Kimigayo, God Save The Queen and Negara Ku before our independence in 1965. That's four national anthems. 

But wait a minute. During colonial days, the Chinese students sang Sun-Min Zhu Yi (三民主义), refusing to follow the British and following Nationalist China's anthem instead. So that's five anthems that some Singaporeans had to sing.

The Indian National Army which had its headquarters in Singapore during the Japanese occupation had their own anthem too. And they sang it in Hindi. So if this anthem is included, our citizens would have sung six anthems before our present original one.

Now that's a lot of anthems for a tiny dot like Singapore.

So sing on Mr. Rock Star, Ramli. And it's our own anthem we all sing today and it's made in Singapore too.  According to Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, Ramli was: "Raw, gritty and visceral – it’s soul-stirring to hear, even moving some in the audience during the rehearsals to tears." 

MAJULAH SINGAPURA
HAPPY NATIONAL DAY 2019 TO ALL SINGAPOREANS.
BI-CENTENNIAL YEAR.

Images and video:
Information: 'One More Story To Tell. Memories of Singapore 1930s-1980s': Chan Kwee Sung: Anthems: Page 130-132. Landmark Books 2003.
https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/search?q=chan+kwee+sung

Flags of the United Kingdom, Japan, Nat China, Malaysia.

Without The Gift of Song In Aberdeen, Scotland.

Serene, University of Aberdeen

UP TO 2,400 VIEWS, 25 CHATS, COMMENTS

A Story About Heritage

I will never forget the lesson I learnt in the early 1980's when I attended a British Council course at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. There were four representatives from Singapore, myself and three ladies.  We had been selected to attend an English Language, English Literature and Linguistics programme.

Since a good number applied at the Singapore office, candidates had to go through an interview but we had been lucky and managed to get a place.  For the attractive summer holiday, post-graduate course we were provided text books, meals, lodging and visits around Aberdeen's neighbourhood. Daily lectures and workshops by **distinguished professors were usually held up to lunch time. There were none during the weekends.

Singapore representatives. Thistle among the flowers?

After our arrival and having settled in at the university we were ushered into a large room the second evening, where our course students met for a cultural get-together.  Most of us were quietly ready for a night of food and fun but surprised by what happened next because as Singaporeans we had not been prepared for the 'task' at hand.

Cultural Night at Aberdeen University

After a full and fancy meal, Scottish style but without *haggis, we found ourselves shaking hands with the young and old from many places around the world.  They had come from Asia, Europe and Commonwealth countries. That night, each country representative was supposed to entertain the gathering with either a song, a dance, a reading or a sketch.

Yes, my dear readers. Everyone was prepared. But Singapore? No, because we had no song to sing. Don't forget it was the beginning of the 1980's and the national songs that had been composed were only available from 1984. We had come a little early. If only we had arrived in Aberdeen two years later, then we could be so proud singing, Stand Up For Singapore. Or if we had come in 1986, Count On Me Singapore would have been available.

Panic. The four of us huddled together trying to think of one we could sing as a foursome. I told them there was one. It was called, Singapura, a pop song. But it wasn't a patriotic song.  And I remember it was by Sandra Reemer an Indonesian/Dutch singer. How could we be singing a song that wasn't composed by our countryman?  Although we knew the melody, we didn't know the lyrics. Then there was our National Anthem.  But we couldn't be singing the anthem for amusement.

What about Sing Your Way Home? Was that a Singapore song?  I knew that one. As we racked our heads, I remember songs we taught our children back home. These were, Chan Mali Chan and Di-Tanjong Katong and Rasa Sayang.  I knew them in Malay but they weren't really our songs.  We shared them with our neighbours when we were part of Malaya.

A Dance from Greece

Meanwhile, during the show, some of the students danced so well as they demonstrated their intricate steps and swayed to the rhythm of their own hand clapping.  I remember a rather stout gentleman who was so lithe and vibrant when he did a Greek dance and pranced the floor with his arms outstretched for a good ten minutes.

Others sang their national songs as duets and trios, some with guitars while a few brought their own musical instruments to accompany their singing. The people there were such a talented lot! Poetry recitals in European and Asian languages, short skits that threw us into laughter and even a parade of Shakespearean soliloquies.

Sketch or recital? 

We applauded, looked at each other and gave the three titles to the lady in charge and made preparations to sing it. But here's the strangest part. Up till today, I cannot remember if we ever went up on stage.  I searched for the photographs of this performance but now I am not sure if we sang that evening.  

I found one picture though (image above) and this photo jolted my memory because I realised I did a sketch with this bearded gentleman from an Arab country. He was friendly, quick witted, full of humour and I will never forget what he told me,  "Take pictures, Lim. Immortalise yourself so when you look at them 50 years later you will realise how young you were when you came to Aberdeen." 

In newspaper wrapping

It was such a relief when the night was over. We enjoyed the performances by other nationals, the food and camaraderie.  We became friends and the ice was broken. Ice? We realised, as we left the room, how cold it was as the doors opened.  But the beautiful Scottish air refreshed us. A little foggy perhaps. "Hark when the night is falling, / Hear, hear the pipes are calling..."

With University mates @ Aberdeen University. 

I am with dark glasses. 

On my right and left are students from Hong Kong. 

The two on my far right are from Singapore.

After a good night's rest, we ended up the next morning bright and early outside the university grounds, grouped together and heading for famous Bennachie Hill.  It was the weekend and I had my first genuine fish and chips wrapped up in a newspaper (no not in a five-pound note) at the Fish Market.

On the way to town, I saw this lone figure in front of a castle.  He was the finest bagpiper I've seen, dressed up in the most elaborate Scottish costume and blowing his pipes in the gusty wind.  It was a beautiful sight. "Wild is the wind to meet you, Staunch are the friends that greet you... "

The Lone Bagpiper. Unimaginable.

So you see folks, if you have been complaining about our patriotic songs being played day in, day out and night in, night out on TV, radio and everywhere else before National Day, remember out plight that evening when we had none to sing.  We need these songs as they are representative of Singapore to remind us of our own sunny isle and national heritage.

Of course, we were too proud to tell our Scottish hosts and the other delegates from the other countries that we didn't have folk songs. Singapore was only about seventeen years old then. But today?  Today, we've got plenty and you can "count on me to give my best and more..."  Today we've got the gift of song.

So sing your National Songs this 2017 and belt them out.

Cowdray Hall, Girdle Ness Lighthouse, Bridge of Don, Fish Market.
A 1980's Postcard.

*Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onions, oats, meat, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, traditionally encased in the animal's stomach.

**It has been some time since I left Aberdeen but I still remember the music, moments, places and people, especially lecturer Ms Avis who drove me to London from the university in 12 hours flat when she offered me a ride back in her tiny Ford Fiesta. We only stopped for lunch at noon and had tea in the car. She was about 60 years young when I met her in the early 80's. It's hard to forget a kind lady like Ms Avis. God Bless Her Soul.

1980's Hit Songs in the UK

1    Dexys Midnight Runners: Come On Eileen
2.   Survivor: Eye Of The Tiger
3    Irene Cara: Fame
4    Tight Fit: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
5    Culture Club: Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
10  Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder: Ebony And Ivory

http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1982.shtml

University of Aberdeen, Scotland; British Council Summer Course; U.K., British Council Scholarships; Cultural Night, Scotland; Fish and Chips in Newspapers; Haggis from Scotland, U.K.; Bridge of Don, Scotland; Fish Market, Aberdeen, Scotland; Girdle Ness Lighthouse; Singapore Patriotic Songs; Singapore Heritage, Sung50

Peter Shaffer:

I learnt too, which was actually one of the objectives of going to Aberdeen, about another great playwright. Peter Shaffer was at his peak in the 1980's and reading a play like Equus was certainly an eye-opener for me. 

Teaching Literature at school had been tough and a challenge, so I came with an open mind and learnt the ways of this university professor who tried to put across this piece of art (it wasn't an easy one) to his students in the simplest way possible.

Images: A Personal Collection and Google.

Esplanade Sea Dragon Songs Singapore 50s Part 1

 Part I:

Page references are from the coffee-table book, 'Remember The 50s: Objects and Moments of a Dynamic Era' by Tectum Publishers 2010 (image 3).

Nothing jolts the memory like snapshots of old. Using the coffee-table book as a guide, the content as milestones and the photographs as lightning conductors I recreated my own teenage journey as I flipped through the pages of time and reminisced the moments, mementoes and music of the 50's.

Images quickly conjured in my mind as I read the short paragraph about the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (page: 18). In the first week of June 1953 when I was only 13, Singapore celebrated the coronation in style. 

I recalled how my parents booked one of Adelphi Hotel's uppermost rooms facing North Bridge Road so we could watch the coronation floats passing by below us. This event could have been the original concept for our annual Ching-gay parade.

The Adelphi Hotel from http://www.230battalion.org.au/Gallery/displayimage.php?pid=5051

A trip to the old Esplanade the next evening revealed the most fascinating sight that I had ever seen in the 50s. A dozen sampans at sea were carrying a beautifully illuminated sea dragon spouting neon lights (image 1) but from afar the illusion was so life-like and breath-taking. And this was a time before the advent of high technology and laser lights.

As I turned around to face inland, the crowned 20-storey Asia Insurance Building before us stood high and mighty in the night sky. It was the pride and joy for Singaporeans then as the building was the tallest on the island. Neon signs below the crown twinkled brightly announcing, Long Live The Queen (image 2).

In the same year, certain songs played constantly over the radio waves. Bill Hayley's Crazy Man Crazy, Les Paul and Mary Ford's Vaya Con Dios, Perry Como's Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes, Dean Martin's That's Amore, Kay Starr's Changing Partners and Earth Kitt's C'est Si Bon were some of the more conservative ones featured on Radio Singapore.

Do you remember the 50s in Singapore? Or perhaps your parents do? Are you aware that God Save The Queen was Singapore's National Anthem in the 50s?

Check out Part II soon for references from the book about the hula hoop, pony-tail, Tupperware, Capris, Match-Box Cars, Cadillac 59, Playboy, Drive-Ins and James Dean.

Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes: Perry Como. A strong favourite those years.

Images 1 and 2 by courtesy of Susan Brooks.

Image 3: Book cover 'Remember The 50s' Editor: Mariel Marohn (Tectum Publishers 2010). NLB Singapore. Ref: 306.09045 REM.

Original article: Andy Lim.
(This posting is not a book review.)

HAPPY 46TH, SINGAPORE NATIONAL DAY 2011

The Silver Strings - One of the first local bands in Singapore that started in 1964. Singapore celebrated its first National day in 1966.