Singapore Music History #2- NATIONAL DAY SONGS

Of particular note to the Singaporean music scene is what are often collectively known as National Day Songs (国庆主题歌). Written as part of Singapore's nation-building efforts, they either incorporate local folk songs (such as "Chan Mali Chan"), contemporary songs ("The Magic Is You"), or are specifically composed around a particular theme for the National Day Parade which is held every year on August 9th.

In 1984, Stand Up for Singapore, was initially created for the sole purpose of celebrating Singapore's achievements in 25 years of self-government. Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and composed by Hugh Harrison, the song struck a chord with Singaporeans, especially when they heard it performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and so the first 'official' National Day Song was born. The government, realizing just how much the public enjoyed singing as a way of celebrating, commissioned a new song for 1986. As a result, Count on me Singapore, also composed by Hugh Harrison, arranged by Jeremy Monteiro and performed by Clement Chow, became the 2nd 'official' National Day Song. The trend continued the next year, 1987, with We are Singapore, again composed by Hugh Harrison and arranged by Jeremy Monteiro. Then, in 1990 with the addition of One People, One Nation, One Singapore composed by Jeremy Monteiro with lyrics by Jim Aitchison for the nation's Silver Jubilee - 25 years of independence, the list of 'official' National Day Songs topped out at four.

Since 1998, National Day Songs have become less 'grandiose' and more popular in nature being composed for and sung by selected local artists and sometimes even included in their albums to be marketed overseas.

    * 1998: "Home" (家), by Kit Chan

    * 1999: "Together" (心连心), by Evelyn Tan and Dreamz FM (Evelyn Tan only for Chinese version)

    * 2000: "Shine on Me" (星月), by Jai (English version) and Mavis Hee (Mandarin version)

    * 2001: "Where I Belong" (属于), by Tanya Chua

    * 2002: "We Will Get There" (一起走到), by Stefanie Sun

    * 2003: "One United People" (全心全意), by Stefanie Sun

    * 2004: "Home" (家), remixed version by Lin Junjie, Kit Chan

    * 2005: "Reach Out For The Skies" (勇敢向前飞), a duet by Taufik Batisah and Rui En, composed by Elaine Chan. (The Chinese version is sung by Rui En only).

    * 2006: "My Island Home" (幸福的图形), by Kaira Gong

    * 2007: "There's No Place I'd Rather Be", by Kit Chan (陈洁仪) and Will You - Various Local Artiste

    * 2008: "Shine for Singapore" (晴空万里), by Hady Mirza (English version) and Joi Chua (Mandarin version)

Other community-building songs:

    * 2005: "Sing Our Wishes" - Also used as official song for Ministry of Education schools for Racial Harmony Day 2005

    * 2005: "We Can"

An ad-hoc offshoot of these National Day Songs are the songs specially composed for groundbreaking events. A prominent example was the song Moments of Magic, written by Hype Records CEO Ken Lim specially for Singapore's millennium celebrations towards the end of 1999. It was performed by three notable singers - Fann Wong, Tanya Chua and Elsa Lin. The music video was directed by Singapore filmmaker Eric Khoo.

    * 1999: "Moments of Magic", by Fann Wong, Tanya Chua and Elsa Lin