Transcript of interview with Wendy Ng (conducted by Amanda Lee), 10 August 2016, 5.50 pm, Skype.
Wendy is a 55-year old female Chinese Singaporean who is a freelance teacher. She enjoys Chinese music more than English music, and likes Chinese pop music by artists such as Teresa Teng, Julie Sun, Tsai Chin, and Wakin Chau. Wendy remarked that she knows about younger artists like JJ Lin and Stefanie Sun, but that she cannot appreciate their music. She finds that the music by older artists is better than the music of today. She thinks that Chinese pop music expresses her identity because of the language and that it also helps to promote the learning of Mandarin. Wendy feels that although she does not watch getai [outdoor performances of pop songs in Mandarin or Chinese dialects during the Hungry Ghost Festival on makeshift stages] anymore, and does not particularly enjoy traditional Chinese music, she believes it should still be preserved as it is a tradition. Wendy finds that now that she is older, she finds it easier to enjoy Western classical music. However, she thinks that since she is not musically trained, this makes it more difficult for her to appreciate classical music. Before Wendy had children, she used to visit the Victoria Concert Hall and Victoria Theater to listen to symphonies by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and watch musicals. However, she has since stopped doing that as she got busier with her family. Wendy finds that the xinyao [Chinese pop songs composed and performed in Singapore since the late 1970s] period was a defining period of Singapore music and regrets that its heyday has past. She believes that xinyao is good music and thus is representive of Singaporean music.
“[English pop music is] very, er, sentimental. And, er, they are ... are a lot of feelings, lah. And have a lot of feelings and, um, quite meaningful, ah. Ya.”
“Er, in the car sometimes my husband turn to 90.5[FM], then I listen to it, but I don’t really appreciate, lah. I listen more to Chinese songs.”
“I don’t have the ear [for Western classical music], don’t have the – listening, hearing, the tone, um, hearing the music – don’t have the – not good in this type of music sense, lah. This is my weakness, lah. But if younger days is worse lah, totally cannot appreciate, [unlike] now, when I listen more often, ah. Sometimes can like it lah.”
“I got go to the Victoria Theater, ever listen to symphonies, SSO [Singapore Symphony Orchestra] lah. But now – now – nowadays, Esplanade I didn’t go because a bit far and expensive.”
“I think the [Western] classical music is already proven to be, um, good piece of music. And I mean, er, should carry on, lah. And then because you notice some of these, they say the – you listen to it good for your brain lah actually.”
“But not the [younger Chinese pop singers], you know, the olden – the olden ones, lah. Like ah, Den Lijun lah [Teresa Teng], like, er, Su Rui [Julie Su] lah. Like, er, this, er, Cai Qing [Tsai Chin] lah, the olden ones, lah. Like, er, Zhou Huajian [Wakin Chau] ah. But I – actually like Sun Yanzi [Stefanie Sun] one, I cannot appreciate leh.”
“I mean, [Chinese pop music] help – help to maintain Chinese culture and Chinese, er, this Chinese, er, Chinese, er, this – this language lah. Then also, um, important also because Chinese is an important language, what. Then Chinese pop songs can go – some more Chinese all over the world.”
“I mean to me is because – very, um, they sing – the way they sing very – very boring. The way they sing, they drag on very long. Then, er, but this opera singing all these, ah, actually also is the identity of – that you’re Chinese lah, because jingju [Peking opera] all these, only Chinese sing only.”
“No[, I don’t like this musical genre.] But for this particular [contemporary intercultural experimental Chinese music], lah. Because the way they produce the pitch, very high like that – like very deafening like that.”
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