Popular music and a sense of place in Singapore

• Main Author: Kong, Lily
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1996
• Subjects: Singapore; national identity; music; culture; popular music; Asian Studies; Music; Sociology of Culture
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2270; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3527/viewcontent/PopMusicSensePlaceSingapore_1995.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This paper illustrates how popular music written, produced, and performed by Singaporeans provides a means through which the culture and society of Singapore may be understood. Music with English language text conveys a sense of place and reflects a distinctively Singaporean spirit and identity. The paper examines four themes: the portrayal of Singapore's multiracial population which reflects a unique cultural synthesis; the Singaporeans' concept of urbanity, manifested as the simultaneous attraction and repulsion towards the city and the desire for nature and the rustic; the distinctive social engineering in Singapore; and the way in which global issues are imported into local agendas, as reflected in "green" concerns in Singapore-produced songs.