Xinyao

In the Chinese music scene, the local xinyao movement started in mid-1980s and was the source of a number of success stories in today's regional Chinese pop music industry.[4] This genre was started by a group of students (mainly secondary schools, junior colleges and polytechnics), who were influenced by minyao (民谣), a Taiwanese folk songs movement in the 1970s,[5] school campus songs (校园民歌) from Taiwan. The Taiwanese folk genre sought an authentic native Taiwan identity exemplified by songs such as "Grandma's Penghu Bay" (外婆的澎湖湾). The rise in popularity of the school campus song movement (校园民歌) especially among the Chinese students and schools came at a time of major education reforms led by then Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Mr Goh Keng Swee which sought to streamline and align Chinese education into the national syllabus, which can be interpreted as an spontaneous reaction to assert identity against these change.

In September 1982, Nanyang Technological University's Chinese-language newspaper Nanyang Shangbao (南洋商报; "Nanyang Business Daily") organised a seminar titled "Wo men chang zhe ge" (我们唱着歌; "The Song We Sing"). The seminar revolved around discussing the emerging trend of xinyao, which was representative of Singaporean composed schoolyard songs at that time. Furthermore, it was also during the 1980s that the term xinyao was coined and popularised in Singapore.[6]

Xinyao was considered to be at its peak in the 1980s as the songs propelled many Singaporean singers and songwriters to stardom.[5] It was during this period where many students who loved xinyao gathered and staged their own performances. Some of the earliest xinyao groups includes Shui cao san chong chang (水草三重唱; The Straws), Yu wei shi xiao zhu (鱼尾狮小组; "The Merlion"), and Di Xia Tie Xiao Zhu (地下铁小组; "Underpass Group").[5] This movement soon spread across Singapore, beyond schools and into the public arena such as community centres. Led by The Merlion, which was formed at Clementi Community Centre in 1983, there were more than 20 xinyao groups registered with a neighbourhood community centre by mid-1987 [7]..

Songs such as "A Step at a Time" (一步一步来) written and sung by xinyao artists were popular with those born in the mid-1960s to 1970s. In 1983, the song "Encounter" (邂逅), a duet by Eric Moo (巫启贤) and Huang Hui-zhen, became the first xinyao song to make it to the Mandarin pop song ranking chart "Pick of Pops" (新加坡龙虎榜) on Singapore's radio station, Y.E.S. 93.3FM. The song was part of a xinyao album (明天21; Tomorrow 21) released in 1983-84 and were created by Billy Koh, Koh Nam Seng, Huang Yuan Cheng, Zhang Jia Qiang and Colin Goh, was considered by some fans[8] as the landmark album that brought xinyao to the mainstream media. The creation of this album led to the birth of what would become Ocean Butterflies International (海蝶音乐),[9] a major Singaporean/Pan-Asian music publishing house.

The decline of xinyao began in the early 1990s. Despite constant efforts to promote the xinyao genre such as xinyao concerts and inter-school songwriting competitions, the popularity of xinyao continue to wane. Following the stop of the Xinyao Festival in 1990 due to the lack of funding, the Sing Music Awards was consequently scrapped due to limited album releases.[10] Other factors contributing the decline of xinyao including the rise of Taiwanese and Hong Kong songs in Singapore's music industry,[3] as the declining of new xinyao talents in Singapore.

Xinyao was revived in the early 2000s when a series of xinyao concerts caught the eye of the public once again. One of the legendary moments was a reunion concert in March 2002 where xinyao pioneers such as Eric Moo (巫启贤), Liang Wern Fook (梁文福) and Pan Ying, were featured.[11] Beginning in 2002, an annual xinyao concert featuring xinyao veterans were organised, with Taiwanese singers participating to promote the concert.[12][13]

The revival of xinyao has been attributed to nostalgia for the era among the generations who grew up listening to that music genre. In recent times, Xinyao stirred the interest of the younger generations as well.[14] Reality competitions such as Project SuperStar and Campus SuperStar were also organised in television to promote the xinyao culture.

Today, xinyao is regarded as a key highlight of Singapore's music scene in the 1980s. Although some argue that any current local compositions by young musicians are considered part of xinyao, the term generally refers to the folk genre of songs by Singaporeans that emerged in the 1980s.[15]

One of the very crucial and deciding factors that pushed xinyao towards its level of popularity was the increased exposure in radio stations as well as on television. In 1983, there was a weekly half-hour radio programme that was specially dedicated for xinyao and its musicians. The programme was titled Geyun xinsheng (歌韵心声; “Our Singers and Songwriters”) and started by the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC; now known as Mediacorp ). In the same year, SBC broadened its annual Chinese Talentime event Dou ge jing yi (斗歌竞艺), to include a vocal group section. Following its success, it then further expanded to include a local-composition category in 1985. As an effort to promote xinyao, the SBC also used xinyao songs as theme songs for Chinese television drama serials.[17]

The xinyao movement was further strengthened with the release of the first xinyao album in 1984 titled Mingtian 21 (明天21; “Tomorrow We’ll Be 21”).

Following its revival, xinyao starts to reappear in the eyes of the public. In 2007, xinyao was showcased in The Chinese-language musical Tian leng jiu huilai (天冷就回来; “If There’re Seasons”), the musical featured 30 of Liang Wern Fook (梁文福)’s compositions, of which many were his signature xinyao pieces.[18] That Girl in Pinafore, a Singapore film released in 2013, featured many xinyao tunes. In 2015, a xinyao documentary The Songs We Sang was released in Golden Village.

In 2018, a Singaporean reality-competition series organised by Mediacorp, titled SPOP Sing! (SPOP 听我唱!), targets local students from Singapore in search of finding a homegrown musical talent as well as promoting local music culture of both mandopop and xinyao, as well as paying tribute to modern singers that rose to fame, such as Sing! China finalists Nathan Hartono (向洋)[19] and Joanna Dong (董姿彦).[20] A competition with a similar format aired in 2013, the fourth season of Campus Superstar, also use only mandopop and xinyao music only during the competition.[21]

Xinyao songs such as Xiao Ren Wu De Xin Sheng (小人物的心声; “Voices from the Heart”) were also staged and performance during the 2014 and 2017's National Day Parade in Singapore.

During his Chinese National Day Rally speech in 2014, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong started off by singing to a popular xinyao tune by Liang Wern Fook, "Xi Shui Chang Liu" (细水长流; "Small Stream that Flows Forever").[22]

In 2015, a school xinyao programme was introduced by Singapore's Ministry of Education. The programme includes a singing, songwriting competition and media appreciation sessions and songwriting workshops. The aim of the programme is to enhance student's Chinese learning abilities in terms of writing and reading.[23] As part of the effort to revive the xinyao spirit and to help participating students, 20 xinyao music appreciation sessions and 2 songwriting workshops were conducted by veteran xinyao songwriters - Jim Lim, Roy Li, Zhang Lesheng and Tan Kah Beng. The programme can be deemed to be a success as over 10,000 students participated in its 2017 iteration.[24] The success of the programme has also lead to the production of SPOP Sing!.[21]