It is true that as compared to other nations such as Australia, Britain or the USA, we're a much more artistically constrained nation. But what we have to remember is that Singapore is a nation that has grown up artificially. How? We've experienced accelerated industrial and economic advancement ever since we achieved independence. Much of the credit for this has to go towards the much-lambasted PAP(haha), but the aftereffects of this accelerated growth means that while our economy is First-World, our pyschology is still 2nd World. Most of our nation is still stuck in the mentality that the arts are a luxury only the upper-class can afford to indulge in. Don't believe me? Go to any heartland area and announce your intention of carving out a commercially viable career in music. Chances are, you will be met with contempt and derision.
It is unfortunate that this mentality is the prevailing one, because your thinking sets the boundaries for your world. What you believe is what you perceive, and what you perceive, you will set out to recreate. That's the reason why, even though our economy might be able to support people who want to pursue careers as muscians, painters, dramatists etc, very few actually have the determination to step out in boldness to achieve it.
But you know, so what? If rock and roll taught me one thing, it's that when others tell you not to rock the boat, you rock it even harder till it rolls, baby. Yeah, it might be tough. It might not be the lifestyle of glitz and glamour you see on MTV. But music is about soul language. And you might decide once that you're gonna throw in the towel and settle for something safer. I have no objections to that, but only you know yourself best, dear friend. Ask yourself. Will you ever be truly happy as a corporate lemming when inside you is the soul of a artist?
Yeah, our music scene might not be as developed as the Western nations. But I believe that giving up and throwing the towel will never get anything accomplished. Rock and roll is about revolution, about throwing off social expectations and constraints, defying boundaries to create the epic and legendary. No one would have expected black's music to revolutionise the world in the 1950s, but it did, against the overwhelming tide of massive racism, and subsequently paved the way for the entire music industry to be revolutionised. No one would have expected the Irish music scene to be this successful in the 1970s when the nation itself was in constant political and religious turmoil, but out of that conflict arose a young idealistic rock band from Dublin called U2 who believed with unshakable faith and set the tone for later bands such as Kings of Leon, The Corrs and even *cough* Westlife. And so on and so forth. Acts like The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, The Ramones etc...all of them did what others said were impossible. To paraphrase Jesus Christ and adidas as well, impossible is nothing, friend.
Yeah, it may be tough. Yeah, the public opinion still stands. Yeah, public audiences still ostracise against local music. So? A good friend once told me, "You and me, we form the majority." And together, WE form the majority. Not with strength in numbers, maybe, but with strength in hearts. The music scene here has never been as active in the past 15 years as it has been now, and it's only gonna grow.
Yeah, I'm no industry veteran and I'm no battle-hardened musician. I admit, I'm just a young boy with a dream. But I believe in that dream and so should you. So should all of us. Because if we do, we will all be dreamers, and then we won't be the only ones.
Rock on.
