Presidential Election in Singapore: The Long Awaited One

We know election fever is over but man was it an electrifying few weeks. Even our local writer Catherine Lim wrote a book on it titled “A Watershed Election.”

A phrase we have heard many times over during the election period but nonetheless a very appropriate way of putting it.

This year’s election has also seen many young youths awakening to politics. Never before have we seen such a huge amount of interests from our youths about the future of Singapore’s government. Never before did we have such young candidates wanting to represent our interests like how Tin Pei Ling and Nicole Seah did.

Even one of our favourite artists Inch Chua wrote a song about it:

It is little wonder why this year’s General election had garnered so much interest not only with our youths, but with every Singaporean living in this country.

And now soon upon us is our Presidential election. Sure it might not have generated as much interests but it is also an important period of time for us Singaporeans. Currently, we see three Tans (Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Kin Lian and Tony Tan) confirming their interest in becoming our next President. All of them definitely have what it takes to serve our country well. Singaporeans this time, are definitely going to have a hard time making decision again.

I remember back in my JC days, my group featured Ong Teng Cheong as the subject of our Project Work. So far he is Singapore’s one and only elected President as the previous two terms had been a walk over. He is also the man who spearheaded the MRT system for Singapore. A train public transport service that has served the country very well over the years despite it being increasing crowded. He was a people’s President and beloved by all.

Quoting myself back in JC, he was truly indeed Singapore’s very own groundbreaker.

And now who knows what will happen in this year’s Presidential election. But we here at Singing Windows would definitely be watching it closely.

Oh and since we were on the topic of trains, has anyone seen this video? It’s a song called Love Your Ride by Dim Sum Dolly.

I’m sure not all of you might like it. But you have to admit it is at the very least…quite amusing to watch. Especially if you’re a Singaporean because then it’ll be easier to get all the jokes. It’s like one of those songs in the Jack Neo’s movies where they mix the dialect to get really hilarious results

Save Our Earth Through Music!

Iknow it’s a little late.

Okay that is an understatement. We’re very late in covering this event but hey better late then never right?

Eco Music Challenge 2011 is an online song-writing competition organised by the National Environment Agency (NEA) for talented and passionate individuals to express their appreciation and support for our beautiful environment through music!

Link to NEA Eco Music Challenge Website

We here at Singing Windows love our local singer song-writers. So it gives us great joy to see a competition where they can show case their talents and for a good cause to boot!

I’m sure many of us who enjoy music and are learners of it all dream of writing that next hit single that will wow the world and top the music charts. But for all those who have tried we know that it can be a very difficult process and the end result might not even be to our liking. However when you finally do write something that expresses your feelings completely, it can be a very rewarding experience.

Some of us here at Singing Windows know this very well because we too have attempted this daunting task. And we can safely say we really really completely and utterly suck at it. So we’re in no position to really give any advice on song writing but we know someone who can.

Here’s Inch Chua with some tips to song writing:

And if you’re curious about the competition or if you’re looking for some inspiration, we’re going to showcase some of the contestant’s entries!

First we have the lovely couple of Jannassa and Jake and their song Earth Heroes.

We find it to be a very good entry. We liked the singer and the guitarist did a great job. He definitely has some skills. However we find that it might have been better if the singer could have been a tiny bit louder.

Next we have a song by Zu Xian titled Take Action Now.

We liked how catchy the song was and the creative way she sung the chorus. The video was also very well made. Something not everyone can do. She is definitely a contender in this competition.

I kind of like the title of the song "Take Action Now". I can't stress much on the importance of taking action to save our earth now. Allow me to take this opportunity to share with you guys what we can do to play a part in saving gaia. Well, nowadays, you see many recycle bins around. What I usually do is that after finishing my bottle of drinks, I will store it at some corner of my table and once I collected enough, I will throw them all into the recycle bin. This is some small action which I hope all the readers can do together with me :)

Lastly we have a very adorable 6 year old girl to close off our post with her song entry Let’s Be Friends To Earth.

It’s fantastic to see someone so young be so passionate about song writing and saving the earth. We wish her all the best and that may her passion continue even as she grows up.

Oh and if you’re thinking of joining the Eco Challenge we’re sorry to say that the competition is closing tomorrow. Our apologies, but we did tell you we were late didn’t we?

A Great Blog by Someone with Similar Passion for Singapore Music

Hey there you Window viewers, how’s it hanging?

Today’s post will be a little different than usual because instead of featuring a singer from the little red dot. We are featuring a fellow comrade in Singapore’s music blog scene.

MusicArtLifeSg is run by AJ Chen, a resourceful and dedicated guy who has been doing this for close to four years now.

He’s very thorough in introducing the many music events going on in Singapore as well as covering genres that most Singaporeans aren’t familiar with.

His wish to connect fellow Singapore musicians together is admirable and similar to ours.

It is not an easy task but he has stuck through it for such a long time now that we here at SINGing Windows would like to salute his efforts and contributions to the music scene in Singapore.

May you continue your hard work as we aspire to run our blog here for as long as you have.

Please do visit his blog to check out the happenings in Singapore’s music industry.

And, the link to his blog?

(As Beyonce once sung)

To the left, to the left. (Left hand side of the page)

Pokemon masters, it’s time to save JAPAN!

As most of you have already seen on the news, Japan is facing dark times ahead. Tsunamis, nuclear fallout…rumors of famous stars dying…

It’s time we remember all the good things that Japan has given us in the past and repay them with a helping hand.

Speaking of which, there’s been tons of great videogames that were produced by them.

Like for example…

POKEMON (Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black and White.) !

Yes there have been many different versions of Pokemon released over the years and all of us have played with it in one form or the other.

It’s become such a popular franchise that when you walk down the streets today and ask anyone, “Have you seen a Pikachu before?”

99% of the answers you will get would be an astounding Yes.

And these days you can play Pokemon on almost any platform that is able to play games. Hackers have made it possible to play it on your computers, your laptops, and even your mobile phone!

Back in my JC days, everyone played Tetris or Super Mario on their Graphic Calculators to pass the time during breaks. My friend and I though, we played Pokemon on our phones. I remember constantly pressing 2 and 8 so that my bicycle would go forwards and back to gain enough distance covered to make my Eevee’s happiness level increase till it could evolve into an Espeon.

I would admit now though that it was a complete waste of time, but as a way to release stress, it was as effective as anything else we could do.

Pokemon by itself is not exactly the greatest game ever made, but what makes it special are the fond memories it gives us of our childhood. It reminds us of a more innocent time where we were happy just to catch a simple Pikachu in the forest. Nowadays we want so much more out of live and we have to struggle through it just to achieve our goals.

Even though that may be so, we should at least be grateful for the little things we have right now.

Because the people in Japan are suffering even more right now and they need our help. So I urge you to be generous and go down to your nearest 7-Elven or Cheers to donate some money today.

It is for a good cause.

It is for Pokemon.

Now I leave you with this familiar tune covered by our fellow Pokemon masters.

Be like Taylor Swift! But girls only please!

I’m sure most of you already know about Taylor Swift’s concert in Singapore a couple of days ago at the Indoor Stadium, but did you also know about the “Be Like Taylor Swift” contest that was held before it?

Besides winning a free ticket, it also gave the winners a great opportunity to meet their idol!

So naturally you can already guess that tons of people signed up for it.

317 to be exact, each making a YouTube video paying tribute to Taylor Swift by putting up a performance of some sort with one of her songs.

Seeing as how Valentine’s Day is just around the corner we thought this would also be a great opportunity to feature videos on love songs!

So yes today we’re featuring TAYLOR SWIFT COVERS ABOUT LOVE.

Wait…isn’t all her songs about love anyways?

Talking about Taylor Swift does makes me nostalgic though…I remember the first time I heard one of her songs was about four years ago when I was still in Junior Collage.

The song in particular was ‘Teardrops on my guitar’ and I remember very vividly that I was wishing that she didn’t put a gender on her songs. It makes it hard for guys to like them too since they’re almost always sung in a girl’s perspective. I mean if you didn’t change the lyrics in your head while singing along it makes you sound so unmanly! (For guys only of course)

Anyways enough of on that subject, you people didn’t come here to read about my rants.

Our first video is by Julia Kok. For a long time now we have subscribed to this girl and watched her from a far like a bunch of very keen *coughs*stalkers*coughs* I mean talent spotters.

So it makes us proud to see her make it to the top 15 in the competition and getting a chance to meet her idol. Kudos and Congratulations though you don’t really know of our existence.

Our second video is by a very talented Geraldine Quek. Not only does she sound good, she even made her own Music Video version of ‘You belong with me’ which we thought was really cool and deserves top marks just for the dedication and hard work itself. With the similar sticky notes charm that the original had, it’s truly a very well made MV. However we were definitely disappointed that the ending didn’t have a scene where she reveals how pretty she really is.

Lastly we have a very spunky girl named Elizabeth Teoh who despite not knowing how to play any musical instrument, decided to enter the competition as well. And we’re glad she did because the only instrument she really needs is her wonderful voice. (Not forgetting the toilet because the echo effect was exactly what she needed to make her voice stand out.)

Notice that we didn’t feature any guys that entered this contest? That’s because I personally feel that guys shouldn’t sing Taylor Swift songs…unless your girlfriend requested it…otherwise for some reason singing a Taylor Swift song really makes you sound really unmanly!

(Yes even after changing the lyrics the girly notions are still in motion and I deliberately avoided the word gay.)

Anyways happy Valentine’s Day to all you couples out there and for all those experiencing unrequited love this year, may you sing your troubles away in a bathroom secretly when nobody’s home.

It’ll help vent out some of your frustration. (Trust me, I’ve tried it.)

Be like Taylor Swift: http://taylorswiftsg.getmusicasia.com/

Ordinary guy but male version of Hannah Montana?

I know, it has been a long time since our last post. We are sorry about it, but we will do our best to update this site as frequently as possible.

We Singaporeans are really a very funny bunch of people huh? Most of us act all cool and cold on the outside but really when it comes down to it we’re really nice people. I mean just look at how much money we raise each year for charity through anonymous means!

But I guess that’s just because we’re SHY (So Hot & Young), which is why it’s always such a great joy to see Singaporean singers doing their thing on YouTube.

Well here’s an oddity you’ll only find here, a Singaporean singer who looks Caucasian-ish, or angmog-ish (the way Singaporeans call it), but has a totally genuine Singaporean accent.

He’s been making videos for a full year now with his first video posted on 01-01-2010. (An auspicious date no?)

So far he’s covered a range of songs, picking those which seem to be popular at the time. I’m guessing it’s a strategy to get more subscribers, but hey don’t judge him.

After all who doesn’t want to be popular right?

However in his quest of becoming popular, another oddity occurred.

By covering a Hannah Montana song, “Ordinary girl” his video was able to get a whooping 40 000 views, a surprisingly large amount of views for a local singer’s video.

So I guess that’s a top tip for you YouTube singers if you really want to become popular by all means possible.

Though I’ll recommend Justin Bieber’s songs instead since I’m quite sure that’s where all the Hannah Montana fans have moved on to now.

Anyways of course here at Singing Windows we want to feature talent more than just ways to get popular. And one of the ways to see if someone’s talented is to check out their original songs.

Sam Driscoll here has written two songs, “The Facebook Song” and “Have you ever wondered”.

Personally I prefer The Facebook Song since it shows more creativity from our home grown talent. Another reason is because “Have you ever wondered” sounds too similar to “Trance” by John Mayer.

It was a good attempt but intentionally or not he fell into a common pitfall for all song writers and that is sounding too similar to a song already written by someone else. It’s kind of a waste actually since I liked what the song was about.

Well he’s still young, so here at Singing Windows we hope that he continues to improve and grow. (For some reason this line sounds like something from a milk powder commercial)

And yes I apologized in advance if you find me lame.

Sam Driscoll's (Electricladyland8) Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/Electricladyland8

Joy with Music

I remember back in my secondary school days, I was surrounded by three kinds of people. First were the gaming dudes, second were the Co-curricular activities people and then there were the Rock Band boys. Nope not the game, they actually formed a band and wrote songs.

Watching Joyce Lee ( as she performs in her school uniform) definitely brought me back to those days.

She’s a young lady with a surprisingly matured singing voice.

If I had only been listening to the melodies of her voice, I never would have been able to guess that it was coming from such an adorable young lady. Not to mention her superb skills with the guitar at such a young age. A must watch for you acoustic fans out there!

So far she has covered plenty of songs and has written two originals which I personally loved. So do check them out too!

Her version of Thinking of You by Katy Perry is pretty decent considering it wasn’t recorded in a studio. There’s an added maturity in the song because of her voice which we think it’s pretty cool.

All My Time is also a pretty good attempt to write her own song. It even has a heartbroken story that you must read before watching the video.

This song is talking about a girl after a break up. She's was so lost and confused, thinking that there would be a 2nd chance after all that has happen, but she knows that the guy will never ever accept her back, never. She still waits for the answer that she is longing for, and she knows that she loves him heartly. Everyday, only thinking about him, about the memories that they both shared together. But when the thought of her ex lover with another girl is just simply heart-breaking. She stands alone, all sad, and remembering how the guy left her.

She felt his presence again. Surprisingly, the guy was there. But unfortunately, the guy was only there just to tell her that she loves the other girl more. She still insists, she's the better one for him. Till one fine day, she couldn't stand it any longer. She wrote this long letter for him,

telling him how she felt, and just hoping that he'll change his mind one fine day.

In the end,

He still remains with that girl he chose to be with.

Because she has covered plenty of our favourite songs here, we’re giving her the honour of being the first to be featured on Singing Windows.

Hope you continue to share with the world your wonderful music. =)

Her YouTube Channel can be found HERE!