Transcript of interview with Sajiv Sekaran (conducted by Amanda Lee), 6 October 2016, 4 pm, Skype.
Sajiv is a 25-year old Malayalee-Tamil Singaporean and is a global specialist with DHL Express. Sajiv likes English pop music by artistes like Adele and Sam Smith as he finds their music meaningful. Sajiv thinks that English pop music expresses his identity to a certain extent in that he can relate to some of the themes in the music like going through a break-up for instance. He does not think it expresses a cultural connection between Singaporeans and Western countries as Singaporeans listen to the music simply because they think it is good, and not because they want to relate or emulate the culture in those countries. Sajiv does not listen to Western classical music and associates it with older, rich people and ballroom dancing. He considers Western classical music to be good music as most genres from today can trace its origins from Western classical music. Sajiv thinks that it can be considered as part of global culture since it is played everywhere and played to please tourists. Sajiv thinks that it is an important genre of music as he thinks that most people know about it more than traditional Chinese or experimental Chinese music. Sajiv does not listen to or know any traditional Malayalam, or Malayalam pop music. Sajiv likes the traditional Tamil songs more than Tamil pop songs as he finds the themes in the music more meaningful, and can relate to them better. Sajiv thinks that Tamil music should be preserved as it is used to accompany traditional Indian dance. Sajiv thinks that Tamil music links one to India, Indian culture, and to one’s relatives living in India. Sajiv used to listen to Japanese pop music as he found it hyper and weird but addictive at the same time. Sajiv finds Korean pop to be Westernized despite the Korean lyrics. Sajiv used to listen to music by Jolin Tsai as he was introduced to it by his Chinese friends. He liked her music as he found it addictive and easy to dance along to. Sajiv does not listen to traditional Chinese music but found the extract to be good and different from what he usually listens to. Sajiv liked the Singaporean movie 881 (2007) for its costumes and songs. Sajiv liked the extract of Chinese crossover music, especially the part where Adele’s Skyfall (2012) was featured. Sajiv did not like the experimental Chinese music extract as he found it a little boring and monotonous. Sajiv does not really listen to Singaporean music but has heard a few songs played on the radio. He does not think that there is a Singaporean musical style as it is based on English pop rock and hip-hop music. Sajiv considers Singlish comedy songs to be Singaporean music but does not think they represent Singapore in a positive manner as they show global audiences that Singaporeans speak broken English. Sajiv thinks that National Day songs are good and he listens to the new songs as they are released each year. He thinks that they create an authentic feeling of group belonging as the lyrics mention Singapore’s identity and unity among the people. Sajiv thinks that Western classical music best represents Singapore as most of the music young people listen to is based on Western culture. Sajiv thinks that English pop rock music expresses his identity the best as it is diverse. He thinks that he identifies least with experimental Chinese music.
“Adele’s very true to her song writing style. Like she writes a lot of music that is – it’s not too pop-ish. Like it sounds good, and it has a really good meaning behind it, like with breakups. Same as Sam Smith, like his music has a lot of meaning.”
“And of course the Beatles, they are very classic as well. I learned about their music from a movie, I think it’s called Across the Universe (2007), then I remember a few songs from that. Ya, I mean once in a while if I got my iPod on shuffle like some of the songs come on.”
“English pop rock music ... well, I won’t say all of it. I mean, some I can relate to in a way that it reflects what I’m going through. Like if I broke up with someone, or you had a really shit time, then ya, it kind of does.”
“I think personally, I don’t think people in Singapore listen to [English pop rock] music to feel appropriated to the countries that they are from. They just listen to it because it’s good. Ya. So I don’t think so, ya.”
“I’ll associate [Western classical music] to like rich people, um, older rich people. Er, the early like early centuries. That’s what I would say. And maybe with like ballroom dancing? Probably that.”
“I think [Western classical music is] good music. Because the origin of any – I mean, most of the music today would have originated from something and most of it is classical. So I would say it’s good music.”
“[Musicals are] a very big mix. Because it’s very hard to sing and dance and act at the same time. So it’s good. Like I think it’s a very good visual experience to see all of that combined.”
“So it’s like Malayalam movies, Malayalam music. So, um, not – nothing much I’ve seen about it, or heard about it.”
“[Tamil] pop [music] are always the – the traditional ones – now in the future, they’re always talking about like girls. Um, getting a girlfriend, er, drinking, partying. Like it’s kind of normal to English pop music as well. The older ones like focus on like family, um, like heartache, pain, sorrow, sadness. So I kind of like that a bit.”
“Because the [Tamil] pop one doesn’t really relate to me. Because I do – do listen to it, purely for the music not the lyrics. But the older [Tamil] classical music, the lyrics express me more when it comes to me like – because most of the things they talk about, I go through. So I can see me relating to that, ya.”
“So traditional Tamil music always – like I said – like describes – always links Indian culture to it. So you kind of know – you kind of like feel like you know what Indian culture is especially if you are – if you have family living in India, or you are from family that lives in India. You can always do the association.”
“Well, [Korean pop music] like very upbeat, it’s very like – it’s kind of cute sometimes. And some of the stuff is like – they – they kind of – they’re very Westernized, just with Korean lyrics as well, so they’re not bad.”
“Oh, [Japanese pop music] just like very hyper, and it’s very crazy. Like their – I kind of – I mostly listen to it because their – they use a lot of auto-tune and it sounds very weird, but at the same time it’s quite like addictive. So – ya.”
“I thought it was like – [Jolin Tsai] – mostly because she’s like very – she’s very hot. So – and a lot of her music was like very – the beat of the music’s good, er, it’s very addictive, and it’s very dance-y. Ya, that’s basically it.”
“[Traditional Chinese music is] very different to what I normally hear, but it still sounded good.”
“I like the costumes [from the movie 881], they’re so ridiculous. And – but the songs are quite nice. Even though it’s like in Hokkien or different dialect right, I like the music, it was quite nice.”
“I like the traditional aspects of the [Chinese crossover music] being covered. Like it’s modern, but it still sounds good. But I mean it’s traditional, but it sounds as good as the original.”
“Oh my god it sounds like I’m in a ... sounds like I’m in a – like a fighting movie. Like someone’s going to fight when I listen to this [experimental Chinese] music. Okay, I don’t really like it though. Like it’s okay but I – it’s not one of my favorites ... compared to the cross[over] music.”
“The only one I know is like Dick Lee. And there’s, um, Corrinne May, I think. She’s a composer as well. And I think it’s alright, like I never really listen to their music but I just know about them.”
“No, I think [Singaporean music is] very based off the English pop rock, hip hop music. I don’t think we have an original [style].”
“No, I don’t think Singlish [comedy songs are] a good representation of Singapore, even though it’s what we’re known for – but it’s basically us telling them that we have basically broken English. Like created words that don’t really make sense.”
“I think the lyrics [of National Day songs] are really good. They always talk about like Singapore’s identity, um, what – what we can do especially when it comes to like sticking together, standing up for each other. So I think they’re pretty good.”
“Even though we have a big Chinese population, I feel like also [Singaporeans are] quite big on the traditional Chinese, but I feel like nowadays – most – majority of the youngsters would be based off Western classical. I mean, most of the music we listen to like the youngster like – they tend to like base it off modern music and everything is based off Western-culture music.”
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