Dairianathan, Eugene

The entry on music in Singapore by Lee Tong Soon (2001:421) in the Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians makes the following observations: "The majority of Indians in Singapore speak Tamil, while other large groups include the Malayalis, Punjabis, Sindhis, Bengalis, and Gujaratis. Temple music from the Carnatic tradition, featuring the nagaswaram (oboe) and tavil (doubleheaded barrel drum) is performed to announce daily prayer times and during festivals such as Thaipusam and Thimithi. Other genres include bhajanas (Sanskrit bhajans), film music and Hindustani and Carnatic classical music." Film music appears between Sanskrit bhajans and Hindustani and Carnatic classical music. Less, either in description or scholarship is available to inform a reader of the presence and practice of film music in Singapore. Apart from Joseph Peters' (1993) noteworthy contribution on classical and folk culture of the Indian community in the ASEAN context, Lee's entry in Groves contains no single bibliographical reference in English, Tamil or Hindi on the subject. Nevertheless, cursory descriptions of music evince practices likely to have been found in a public setting, albeit in a select community of supporters. Appearances of music-making at a public setting suggest a deeper level of this collective action, namely ways in which it may have been initiated, nurtured and supported. There has arisen an implicit view, in writings and oral interviews, of an overwhelming reliance on India for cultural and musical sustenance, not only of folk and classical traditions but film music and culture as well; a view almost as unanimous as it is unquestioned. This essay involves a critical assessment of cultural reliance in the practice of music of South Indian film in Singapore through oral interviews and other supporting documentation.

In the current syllabus for the General Music Programme for Primary and Secondary schools in Singapore, use of the keyword popular appears with reference to the repertoire in second stage, namely popular songs leading to the ability to [a]ppreciate the use of technology in creating the varied identity of contemporary music (e.g. loops in dance music) (MOE 2008, pg. 8) by the third stage until at Stage 5, involves a discussion of the role of personal and group (read cultural and national) identity in music (MOE 2008, pp. 8-10). Evident in the GMP document therefore, is the potential and value of working with popular music: beginning with composing, improvising and recreating extending to identity formation either as individual and/or group identities which speak positively of the multiplicity of identity negotiation. An approach involving popular music is very much in line with current broader educational aims to develop individuals with the capacity to be creative and imaginative and socio-culturally well-tempered and that popular music has an important educational role to play in this respect. This paper discusses a pilot project involving a group of undergraduate Music student teachers who opted to offer popular music as one of their ensemble options during the January through April 2011 semester. With leading questions to facilitate reflections of their learning journey in popular music, this paper examines their reflections of first-hand engagement with musical and extra-musical resources with implications for the place of popular music in education policy.