THE WEST, WESTERN MUSIC & THE CHINESE COMMUNITY IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY SINGAPORE / A Talk by Phan Ming Yen

THE WEST, WESTERN MUSIC &

THE CHINESE COMMUNITY

IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY SINGAPORE

A Talk by Phan Ming Yen

Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Saturday (30 November 2024)

Today, we take for granted the sheer variety of Western classical music performed in Singapore by a multitude of artistic groups, both professional and amateur. However, this wonderful state of affairs had to have its origins. No, we are not referring to the "cultural desert" of 1970s Singapore, as decried by Dr Goh Keng Swee, before he famously set things right by founding the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1978. In this very interesting talk by former Straits Times music critic and The Arts Magazine editor, the polymath Phan Ming Yen goes way back in time where his story actually starts.

Based on old newspapers, articles and archival material, Ming Yen has painted a very vivid and not too flattering picture of colonial Singapore from the 1890s. Those were the days when Brits like William Graeme St Clair and Edward Salzmann, with important connections to the establishment and press, held sway. 

They were responsible for introducing Western classical music to the natives, quaintly referred to as Asiatics, to counter the hideous noise of the daily grind and "rudimentary Chinese music", to enrich and educate the unwashed. These came in the form of the Singapore Philharmonic Society and its children's concerts, and other activities. For his troubles, the old pipe organ of Victoria Memorial Hall was named the St Clair organ.

Racist or not?
Supremacist to say the least!

Ming Yen plays some "rudimentary" Chinese music.

The very photograph which sparked
Ming Yen's interest in this subject.

The locals were receptive, in particular the Straits-born Chinese, who were mostly English-educated, upwardly mobile and increasingly gentrified. This movement led to the first orchestra formed by non-Europeans, the Chia Keng Tai Orchestra which performed in society events, public concerts and in 1939, accompanied the Wuhan Songsters in its anti-Japanese fundraising efforts. A central figure was violinist Tay Lian Teck, also a member of the Municipal Commission of Singapore, who died in 1942 while fleeing the Japanese by ship.

Remembering Tay Lian Teck

This tapestry of histories from old Singapore is relevant because it eventually shaped the society we live in today and how we enjoy our music. Ming Yen closed his riveting 90-minute-talk with a quote from Goh Keng Swee, revealing within his mind what would eventually lead to the founding of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1978. We are where we are today because we stand on the shoulders of giants. 

A meeting of old friends and historians.