From ST Forum,
SMU trio showed disrespect to national anthem
I ATTENDED Virtuoso 2007, an event organised by the Singapore Management University’s Music Interactive Club.Firstly, I would like to congratulate the organising committee for a job well done. However, a segment in this event left me appalled.
This distasteful segment occurred during the group category, when a trio from the Singapore Management University (SMU) performed.
Before they started their song proper, they thought that it would be entertaining to dedicate a song in Malay for the non-Chinese audience who were attending this event.
What surprised me was the choice of the introductory song. The trio decided that they should belt out a distorted rendition of the Singapore national anthem.
I am a firm believer that we should treat our national anthem seriously. As citizens, we should learn to respect and honour it. Singing the national anthem is a solemn affair and it should not be approached in such a frivolous manner.
This choice of introduction worries me because, as tertiary students, they should know better than to possess such wilful disregard to the sacredness of our national anthem.
I am disappointed that such a wonderfully organised event had to be subjected to such blemish by three disrespectful Singaporean citizens.
I hope that action will be taken by SMU and that a repeat of such a disgraceful act can be avoided in the future.
Sing Keng Loon
I agree with many things the writer said. National anthem should be respected. It is godly. It is untouchable. It is sacred. We should not disregard it. It should be sang in a solemn manner. “Just like a funeral song,” commented one of my foreign friend after listening to the song being sung during a Flag Raising Ceremony.
The key thing in this issue however, is not whether or not whether or not the National Anthem should be respected. Since it is “correct” to respect the National Anthem, it can be safety assumed that all Singaporeans will do the right thing and respect it.
The issue at hand was whether the trio from SMU showed disrespect to the National Anthem. Using my warped sense of logic, my stand is that the SMU trio did lots of good by singing the song in a modified manner.
Wrote the writer, “they thought that it would be entertaining to dedicate a song in Malay for the non-Chinese audience who were attending this event.” It is a fun event. What is wrong with entertainment? What is more, the trio did a good job in welcoming their non-Chinese audiences to the event! Isn’t singing songs in a race’s tongue a good way to welcome them? The trio are very thoughtful and sensitive people. This modified song in malay served the double purpose of entertaining people, bringing smiles and laughter, and also welcoming audiences from a minority race so that they won’t feel left out. What is wrong with that?
Is what the trio sang still “National Anthem”? National Anthem did not consist of only the melody. It consisted of the meaningful and well-composed lyrics, and the respect that flows out from all those who sing or hear it. The trio changed the song. The original lyrics was replaced with something else. Only the melody remains. There is no respect in there either. Thus what they are singing cannot be technically labelled as “National Anthem”. It is just a song with the same melody as the National Anthem. It is not THE National Anthem.
What is more, many ignorant Singaporeans don’t even know how the National Anthem sounds like. By using its melody in a fun and entertaining way they are doing public service by showing them the melody of the National Anthem.
To conclude, they are bringing smiles to the faces of the audiences with that song. They welcome Muslim friends to the event by singing in their tongue. They are not singing THE National Anthem. Thus there is no need to respect and be solemn about it. They are also doing public service by allowing ignorant Singaporeans to know how the National Anthem sounds like.
So Sing Keng Loon, will it be a school song next?
Note: While what I say may make sense, this entry, along with other entries on this blog, should not be taken seriously. We will all have a difficult time if you do.
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National anthem should be respected. It is godly. It is untouchable. It is sacred. We should not disregard it. It should be sang in a solemn manner.
You sound like a nationalistic lemming.
Nations come and go. Learn some history. The nation is NEVER godly. Read up on how Singaporeans once sang “God save the queen” (before 1959); then, later, the Malaysian national anthem as their own (1963); and then, a little later, was told that their Malaysian countrymen are now their potential enemies (1965). In 1996 and September 2007, LKY fielded the possibility that Singapore would rejoin the Malayan Federation.
“Use your blain! Use your blain!” (Phua Chu Kang)
Maybe you should be listening to your gahmen officials and doing your patriotic duty and pounding out babies for “our great country” instead of wasting your time pounding the keyboard?
Sigh, I guess my feeble attempt at showing sarcasm still don’t work.
I’ll try harder next time.
Aiyoh! Not directed at you lah!
Pat! Pat!
Not as if Shitty Times will ever publish my reply if I wrote that to them, so write on your blog loh!
lol, i donno la. you say i “sound like a nationalistic lemming.” when i trying to be sarcastic about what Sing Keng Loon wrote.
you should be quoting the original letter instead of me i think. haha.
I had also attended the event and had really enjoyed the show. At the segment when the trio was doing the rendition of Singapore National Anthem, I was thinking some audience for sure will voice issues against it - The typical conservative and narrow-minded person I’m quite sure.
First, I agree we should respect our nation and I am proud of what Singapore had achieved so far. Singing the National Anthem is one way to express our patriotic feeling, but the National Anthem itself is not saint! The presenting format of the National Anthem should be considered according to circumstances. If it was to be sung during National Day, each day in the morning before class starts or when the nation won medals… (You get what I mean – formal situations), we will definitely expect it to be proper, order and serious. But C’mon Virtuoso 2007 was a singing and song composing competition! I thought it was CREATIVE to showcase the national anthem in a rearranged light-hearted way. Singapore had more than enough of rules and restrictions to inhibit creativity, if we are going to even lecture the students on this, our government can forget about promoting a creative and freedom nation!
[Maybe that's why SMU is different, the students challenge the norm]
maybe that’s y i chose SMU too:)
I am seriously disappointed by the desecration of the national anthem as well as the views that have been post in this thread in reply.
It is a fallible excuse to use advancement of creativity to desecrate a national symbol. Students must know their limits and not use such excuses to test the limits of other Singaporeans who strongly believe in the fundamentals and symbols of our nationhood. No one should have an excuse to belittle the beliefs of others, no matter what the situation might be. This is called being sensitive to other people’s beliefs.
I agree it was creative. But in whatever light you put it, it was wrong. I strongly condemn the students who believed this was a right thing to do and hope they will reflect upon their actions.
I hope SMU students can think more before they act next time, because many of them are going to be business leaders, and the corporate world is going to be a lot more vicious that a couple of words thrown on newspapers. Utterly disappointing.
I think it boils down to what you view as showing respect…
Treating it solemnly, or treating it as if it is your close friend?
Different people has different views on this. Further arguements can be pointless.
Me, for one, will treat it as a close friend.
And like I said, this is perhaps why SMU is a suitable school for me.