Transcript of interview with Lionel Asis (conducted by Amanda Lee), 31 August 2016, 11 am, Shaw Plaza.
Lionel is a 62-year old male Malay-Eurasian Singaporean who is a transporter and assistant to needy children. He listens to classics and oldies as well as contemporary pop music in both English and Malay. However, he thinks that the classics for both languages are better as they are more meaningful. He listens to music mainly on the radio and tunes into stations like Class 95 FM, Gold 90 FM for English pop, and 94.2 FM for Malay pop. He enjoys English pop artistes like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Lionel likes Malay pop singers like Broery Marantika and Kartina Dahari. He thinks the Malay singers from Indonesia and Malaysia produce better music than the Singaporean singers. He finds that contemporary Malay singers’ lyrics are mainly about love while the older singers’ lyrics focus on family and values, which is something he can connect better with. He thinks that traditional Malay music expresses his identity as a Malay person but it might not do so for others as it depends on the individual’s musical preference. Lionel does not listen to Western classical music often but does so once in a while to relax. He thinks that it should be preserved so future generations know what kind of music it is. He thinks that Western classical music should be played and appreciated, and not kept in the “museum” just for show. Lionel listens to Chinese pop music on the radio sometimes when he does not like anything playing on the English or Malay radio stations. Lionel enjoyed the sample of Chinese crossover music and he found it soothing. He thinks if it comes on the radio, he will definitely keep listening to it. Lionel is neutral about the experimental Chinese sample and thinks it might cause him to fall asleep. Lionel thinks that Singaporean music is best represented by National Day songs which he thinks are good. He thinks that for music to be considered Singaporean, it should have lyrics relating to Singapore and places of interest.
“My favorite artist has gone. Er, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. Okay. And the others are like guitarist, er, er, heavy metal – Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin, they all. Ah. That kind of people – you know – their music touches me a lot.”
“But to listen – for me, ya, once a while I will listen [to Western classical music]. I don’t mind listening to that, but not all the time. Ah. Like I said, for sleeping okay but not for driving. It’s – it’s quite dangerous – because then [I’ll] sleep.”
“But if you – you really listen to the lyrics, [traditional Malay] music, yes. People will say, “Oh, I am.” And this should stay. That’s how – it will tell you about your culture, about who you are, you know. Ah. Not forgetting the roots, lah.”
“Ya, correct because ... for me, I listen to foreign [Malay pop] singers. Like from Indonesia, they are very good singers, okay. Er, Malaysian, they have some. But – to me I – I – I don’t – I don’t, I don’t appreciate Singapore singers here. I don’t have yet.”
“The [Malay pop music] trend now is more about – like too much of – ya, I love you, you love me. This – that – you left me, I this, I that, you know. But when anything – anything to do with family – because I’m sure if you have that kind of songs that blend with the families ah, people will buy.”
“They have this kind of – you know – but to me the [traditional] Chinese music, the way they play they do it very nicely. I may not understand – like I say – I may not understand, but it’s the music, the flow of the music ah, that blends with the old instruments.”
“The [Chinese pop] oldies one are nice. [Be]cause, er, I – I may not know the meaning, but I more or less the – when they sing ah, it is ... music to my ears, you see. It’s – “Ah, okay, I can listen to this music. I can listen to this song.” But when is not a music to my ears ah, I will just turn it off.”
“Whoever, er, singers that – of course, like Teresa Teng all that – they are the oldies. That one they use to sing a lot of nice songs. So ... but other than that the – the – the latest one, don’t ask me. I don’t know.”
“This [Chinese crossover music] is a very soothing song, is it. Ah, this is one I mean lah, you know with the mixture of all these. See, even if I don’t know ah, I can accept. It can be acceptable for me to listen. Ah, I will not say – off, no I don’t. I will listen.”
“I wouldn’t say I dislike [experimental Chinese music], neither I would say I like it. I have not heard the whole song, some – maybe in between maybe there’s something that I may like, you know? So, er, or – I may not like. So – but like I said, give me – make me sleep, you know.”
“Yes, yes. Most of the [National Day] songs are good. From the old ones to the latest ones, they are very good. The way they – they wrote it, they really, er, blends with the current environment in Singapore.”
“So how to say it’s a Singapore song? It’s not. Unless it is something to do with the country. You – you know, you – you sing a song pertaining to your life, you live in this country, you love this country, ah – then yes.”
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