List of Singaporean patriotic songs

This article contains a list of Singaporean patriotic songs. A patriotic song may be defined as one which inspires feelings of pride in one's country. The list has both traditional folk songs that have special meaning to Singaporeans, as well as modern songs composed specifically for national celebrations, particularly the National Day Parade held on 9 August each year.

Types of songs

Broadly speaking, there may be said to be two types of Singaporean patriotic songs. The first type are traditional folk songs that have, over time, come to have special meaning to Singaporeans. Many of these are in vernacular languages – Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, for instance. Examples of such songs include the Malay songs "Chan Mali Chan" and "Di Tanjung Katong", and the Tamil song "Munnaeru Vaalibaa".

The second type are the comparatively modern songs, mostly in English, that were composed specifically for national events – particularly the National Day Parade held annually on 9 August – and for use in schools. Each year since 1985, the National Day Parade Executive Committee has designated one such song as a National Day Parade theme song. The song is usually broadcast on radio and television starting from a month before National Day, and is given prominence during the Parade itself. Examples of such songs include "Stand Up for Singapore" (1985), "Count On Me, Singapore" (1986) and "One People, One Nation, One Singapore" (1990). In 2007 there were two National Day Parade theme songs, "There's No Place I'd Rather Be" and "Will You?". [cite web|title=Official website of the National Day Parade|url=http://www.ndp.gov.sg|accessdate=2007-06-23]

In 1984 , the National Arts Council inaugurated the Sing Singapore Festival, the aim of which was to discover and promote home-grown music and artistes. According to the Council, it also hoped to nurture a love for music and singing and cultivate a greater sense of togetherness amongst Singaporeans. The programme led to the creation of a number of new songs by Singaporean composers, some of which were selected for National Day celebrations. These included "Home" (1998) by Dick Lee, "Where I Belong" (2001) by Tanya Chua, and "A Place in My Heart" (2003) by Kevin Quah. Local singers such as Kit Chan and Stefanie Sun have performed songs in the Sing Singapore collection. [cite web|title=Sing Singapore : Background|url=http://www.singsingapore.org.sg/aboutus.asp|publisher=National Arts Council|date=2005|accessdate=2007-06-23]

Critical reception

While some of these modern made-to-order patriotic songs have become popular, they have not received universal acclaim. They have been criticized as artificial and propagandistic, "National songs foisted on you from above" as opposed to "Singapore Songs arising from grassroots". [citation|last=Tan|first=Shzr Ee|title='Authentic Fakesong' : The Sing Singapore Campaign|url=http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/26/theme/26T8.html|year=?2000|journal=IIAS Newsletter Online|issue=26|publisher=International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)|accessdate=2007-06-23.] A minor controversy also erupted over "There's No Place I'd Rather Be" (2007). Some people queried why the song does not mention Singapore by name,cite news|last=Chee|first=Frankie|title=Why No Singapore?|publisher=The Sunday Times (Singapore) (LifeStyle)|date=2007-08-12|page=L2] while others commented that the song was "touching" and that they related to it immediately, and that " [t] he spirit of patriotism is woven so well in the song".cite news|title=National Day Song Gets Mixed Response|publisher=The Straits Times (Life!)|date=2007-08-18|page=4] One correspondent to the "Straits Times" asked: "How did such a dreadful song become the National Day song?", lambasting the melody as "uninspiring" and the lyrics as "insipid" – "it is quite obvious what the brief to [the composer] was: Write a song to persuade Singaporeans who have sought greener pastures to come home." The song's composer Jimmy Ye defended it, saying, "There's no need for it to be so in-your-face just because it's a National Day song". He noted that he had submitted the first draft of the song to the National Day Parade song committee, which had returned it with several changes. There was no mention of why "Singapore" got left out: "I guess the committee wanted to have a soft-sell approach too".

The National Anthem

Notes
*Songs highlighted in yellow were designated as "community songs" by the National Arts Council.

ongs with Mandarin lyrics

ongs with Tamil lyrics

Notes
*Songs highlighted in yellow were designated as "community songs" by the National Arts Council.

ee also

*Music of Singapore – National Day songs
*National Day Parade – National Day songs

Notes

Further reading

*cite book|author=Aisha Akbar (comp.)|title=Thirty-Six Best Loved Songs of Malaysia and Singapore|location=Singapore|publisher=Eastern University Press|year=1966
*cite book|last=Cheng|first=Shao Chang|coauthors=Leong Yoon Pin (chief eds.)|title=Our Songs|location=Singapore|publisher=Educational Publications Bureau|year=1973 3 vols.
*cite book|title=Sing Singapore : A Celebration in Song, National Day 1988|location=Singapore|publisher=F & N Sarsi in conjunction with Psychological Defence Division, Ministry of Communications and Information|year=1988
*cite book|last=Teo|first=Lay Na (comp.)|title= Sing a Song of Singapore|location=Singapore|publisher=Educational Publications Bureau|year=1980
*cite book|author=Zubir Said|title=Zubir Said : His Songs|location=Singapore|publisher=Times Books International for Singapore Cultural Foundation|year=1990

External links

* [http://www.ndp.org.sg National Day Parade, Singapore]
* [http://www.singsingapore.org.sg Sing Singapore]