Transcript of interview with Siti Mariam binte Jumasadi (conducted by Amanda Lee), 23 September 2016, 10 am, Skype.
Mariam is a 22-year old female Malay Singaporean who is a university student. Mariam enjoys contemporary English pop-rock music by musicians like Arctic Monkeys, Ariana Grande, and Miley Cyrus. Her favorite band is the Arctic Monkeys as she finds that their lyrics and music stands out from the rest. She thinks that English pop rock music expresses only a part of her identity. Mariam listens to Western classical music when studying as she finds that it helps her concentrate. She particularly likes the works of composers such as Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, as she finds them calming and the works have a tinge of sadness to them. She does not consider Western classical music to be Asian culture as it does not contain Asian elements in the music. Mariam has seen musicals like Cats and Oliver Twist. She loves musicals as she has previously done drama and acting classes and thus can understand and appreciate the challenges of performing in musicals. Mariam does not listen to a lot of Malay pop music but one of the artists that she follows is Yuna. She likes Yuna’s Malay songs as she sings about love and she finds them easy to listen to. Mariam does not listen to a lot of traditional Malay music. She only listens to it on special occasions like Hari Raya or other festive occasions. She thinks that it might not really appeal to her as she did not grow up listening to it. She also thinks that while both traditional Malay music and Malay pop music expresses her identity as a Malay person, she thinks that she can relate more to Malay pop music as she listened to it when growing up. Mariam used to listen to Chinese pop music as she was exposed to it through watching Taiwanese dramas. She listened to music by artistes like Jay Chou, S.H.E., and 5566. She likes Chinese pop for its energetic and positive songs. Mariam feels neutral about the traditional Chinese music sample and thinks that hearing the music made her think of China. Mariam enjoyed the Chinese crossover music sample and felt that it was like a mix of both Western and Eastern worlds. She found the sample of experimental Chinese music interesting and does not particularly like or dislike it. Mariam listens to a few Singaporean artistes like Wormrot and 53A. However, she does not think that Singaporean music is original, as it sounds like just English pop music from the West. She thinks that neither Western classical music, traditional Chinese music, nor experimental Chinese music represents Singapore authentically as it does not account for other racial groups like the Indians and Malays.
“What like about the music is that, um, like – like the English pop music, Arctic Monkeys have very interesting lyrics, and then, um, it’s very dreamy. And ... it – even though it’s English pop, it’s – it stands out from the others in my opinion. It’s just a bit different.”
“Oh, that’s a tough question because I wouldn’t solely rely on like one form of source, say English pop, as something to identify my identity? Partly yes, but not entirely.”
“I love Tchaikovsky. Oh I like his, um, piano pieces especially. Very calming and sometimes they have a tinge of sadness in them. I’m kind of like a sucker for those kind of classical music.”
“I wouldn’t say [Western classical music is] an Asian thing unless they do incorporate, or like, um, there’s some Asian touches given by like Asian composers themselves. And I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t identify this music as a global thing also, because of – simply because of where it originates even though people all over the world listen to them.”
“[The Malay pop singer Yuna] likes to sing about, um, love songs – as most – as most pop songs do. But at the same time, what I like about her music is like, um, if you’re talking about Malay, it’s very, um, easy to listen. Mostly – most of them are like acoustic and like, um, I don’t know – I just like those kind of like hipster songs.”
“Mm, to be honest, I don’t really listen to a lot of Malay pop music so I can’t really tell like, um, what I think about the whole music scene. But I think it’s, um, it’s not as big as the English pop scene here.”
“Mm, um, how would I say ... because growing up, I wasn’t really exposed to such [traditional Malay] music. I – I mean I do listen to such music on occasions like maybe say Hari Raya, or like festive seasons. But like apart from that I don’t really grow up listening to the music.”
“The one that plays a bigger part is obviously the pop ones because I grow up listening. And then the [traditional] one is more of – like a Malay pride thing.”
“I find it a bit amusing especially when he raps very fast. But generally they’re like pleasant to listen – like even though I don’t understand any of the things that he’s saying, like you know that Ting mama de hua [Heed Mum’s Words, 2006]? Ya, that’s my favorite. It’s very like ple[asant], it’s very easy listening.”
“It’s more fun – there’s more energy to it. And like – this is from what I recall lah, when I was younger, when I listened more to Chinese pop. It’s, um, I don’t know there’s a – when I listen I feel more happier, and there’s more like positive vibes even though I don’t understand most of what they’re saying.”
“What do I think – the first thing that comes to mind is like – I feel like I’ve been transported to China. Sorry. That’s an immediate reaction. Um, I don’t know, [traditional Chinese music] just feels very ... mm, I – I can’t explain the feeling but the kind of feeling you get when you listen to old music. Ya.”
“Er, I – I really like it. Like because they use traditional musical instruments to play modern songs, so it’s like a mix of both worlds. So now I understand how you – what you mean by cross – crossover, is it? Ya, crossover music.”
“Er, [experimental Chinese music] ... it’s like, um, like playing – like the playing of Chinese instruments in like, er, Western classical music setting. And, um, um, my impression is just like, er, it’s a – it’s an interesting concept.”
“Like the Western [classical] music, they have always been around and like I don’t think there’s any issues with – with this kind of music, whereby people won’t listen to them anymore. But like traditional, like Malay and Chinese, this kind of music – especially in like globalized cities like Singapore, they’re dying out so we need them and they’re very important.”
“There’s not much difference, you know. Like [Singaporean music] doesn’t stand out as like a “Oh, music from Singapore,” it’s just like another English pop song from the West.”
“Whether they represent Singapore as a whole it’s like, er, first you need to remember that Singapore is not only made up of Chinese people. There’s like the Indian and Malay community, so if you’re asking me honestly, I believe that none of this music actually represent what Singapore tentatively is.”
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