Folk Music Society of Chung Cheng High School
(1959-1966)
By Yap Hon Ngian
(former Vice-President of Folk Music Society of Chung Cheng High School)
More
than 50 Alumni met at an unusual gathering at Yan Palace Restaurant in Telok
Ayer on 18 January, 2018. Though some of these alumni had not met for over 50
years, yet the years that separated them quickly dissolved when they recalled
and recounted their common past at Chung Cheng High. Knowing what many had gone
through in recent years, I cast my mind back to a poem To My Retired Friend Wei by the Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo 苏东坡:
How rarely together friends are!
As Morning Star with Evening Star.
O what a rare night is tonight?
Together we share candlelight.
How long can last our youthful years?
Grey hair on our temples appears.
We find half of our friends departed.
How can we not cry broken-hearted!
After twenty years, who knows then,
I come into your hall again.
Unmarried twenty years ago,
Now you have children in a row…
(Translation
culled from the Internet)
Most
of the participants were members of the Folk Music Society of Chung Cheng High
School. Indeed, “How long can last our youthful years?/Grey hair on our temples
appears”. Long years of absence conjured up mixed feelings. While there were
endless subjects to talk about, yet members found it hard to start the ball
rolling.
There
was a distinct objective for the gathering. We wanted to start the process of a
collective memory and gather materials for the purpose of publishing a
commemorative magazine on the Society. This collection of articles and
pictorials is the result of that challenging process.
Objective and
Subjective Conditions
It
all started when, in 1955, driven by the general and specific conditions of the
times, the Folk Music Society of Chung Cheng High School (Chung Cheng Folk
Music Society – CCFMS) was formed.
Internal
factors had a big role to play in the formation of the CCFMS: Ever since Chung Cheng High School (CCHS
including its branch school) was founded, the school management team had always
stressed the importance of promoting education, including intellectual,
physical and aesthetic education as well as moral education.
As
early as 1954, the then principal Chuang Chu Lin had this to say in one of the school’s
concert magazines: “Ever since Chung Cheng was founded in 1939, drama, music
and art have been closely linked with education and self-improvement of the
young in our school, and vigorously supported in and outside the classroom. In
the first three years of the school’s founding before World War II, Chung Cheng
High School Choir was socially active. The school’s drama performances and art
exhibitions received positive feedback from the public. The School’s Choir
commanded a fairly high respect from the music fraternity, due surely to the
Choir’s successful efforts in nurturing young talents.”
The
good reputations of these student societies in Chung Cheng throughout Malaya
and Singapore is due in no small measure to
the full support from the school authorities, and the hard work put in by
the students.
Chung
Cheng Drama Society was formed in 1947, and Chung Cheng Art Society was formed
in 1953. It was only a matter of time before the music society was formed.
CCFMS might have been officially formed in 1959, but the study of music had
been one of the earliest extra-curricula activities in Chung Cheng. In the
second year of the school’s founding (1940), there were reports of performances
by the CCHS choir. And as early as 1955, CCHS Choir had already hosted music
concerts to raise funds for the school auditorium. On top of that, music
teachers in Chung Cheng, such as Shi Yuyi 施育艺, Tian Ming’en 田鸣恩, Li Hao 李豪, Jian Jiping 简继平 and Ding Daojin 丁道津 were, in their own rights,
music personalities with rather high reputations in Singapore.
Other
than the above internal factors, cultural activities outside the school in
1950s also laid the foundation for the formation of CCFMS. Then, many
grassroots organizations had musical activities as part of their growth
strategy. They included Ai Tong Alumni Association, Kong Yiong Alumni
Association, Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association and Kang Le Musical Society.
These organizations played an important role in driving the growth of the local
musical landscape, and the founding members of CCFMS , such as Lin Zheyuan 林哲源 and Sun Qingshui 孙清水 were active members of the musical
ensembles in these organizations. Others would include Ye Ruiping 叶瑞平, Wang Mazhong 王傌忠 and Xue Fushun 薛福顺.
From Nothing to
Something
CCFMS
was active for a short period of seven years (1959-1966). What this book has
done is to recollect memories of CCFMS activities from its former members. The
formative years of CCFMS were hampered not only by the lack of musical expertise
but also by the fact that musical instruments were not readily available. The
severity of the problem could be seen from the articles written by members such
as Sun Qingshui, Ye Ruiping and Wang Mazhong.
Here
is an excerpt from Ye Ruiping: “Young students who were passionate about
Chinese folk music in the fifties and sixties knew very little about musical
instruments from China. There were no teachers who could teach them about pitching
or the quality of the instruments. The reliance on grassroots musicians was
heavy, and these musicians learned the trade mainly from their masters.
Pitching was based on the practice of Chinese opera musicians. As a result,
rookies had to learn through trial and error.”
It
was the sheer love and passion for music that members of the Society managed to
solve one problem after another. Fortunately, support from the school
authorities was generous and a budget was set aside for the Society to acquire
musical instruments.
From
its inception to its disbandment, CCFMS had never failed to get its members to put
up yearly concerts. Between 1963-65, it also worked hand in hand with Chung
Cheng Drama Society to raise funds for Chung Cheng Auditorium. These efforts
were deservedly recognized and appreciated.
In
1963, Chung Cheng Principal, Mr
Huang Fangkui 黄芳奎, said this when he wrote the Forward
for an art concert magazine: “Art and culture is much needed to supplement
classroom lessons in order that these young students have strong physiques,
clear minds and high spirits.” He also stated,” Chung Cheng has, since its
founding, been paying particular attention to proper and healthy extra-curricula
activities. Our students have been staging performances and exhibitions in many
different forms and at different venues.”
It
was these “proper and healthy extra-curricula activities” carried out by the
different student societies in Chung Cheng that resulted in the participation
of a large number of students in the school.
It
is, however, necessary to refer to Chung Cheng High School’s 40th Anniversary
souvenir magazine produced in 1979 with the then principal, Xie Tianshun as the
magazine’s production adviser. One article in the magazine had this to say
about the school’s musical activities:
“The
students responded enthusiastically when in 1958, Head of Music, Mr Lian
Jiangqiu, organized a Chinese instrumental music ensemble. However, it stopped
all activities soon after due to disturbances in the school. Ten years later in
1968, he again organized another Chinese instrumental music ensemble and a
harmonica ensemble.”
Not
a word was mentioned about the seven years of activities initiated by CCFMS. It
was as if between 1958 and 1968, the musical scene in the school was one of
apathy and total silence. Such an interpretation of the events during that
period would inevitably invite suspicion that someone was trying to wipe out the memories of
that period, or that the period was skewed towards certain subtle ideological perception.
What was It All About?
Performances
put up by the Society were geared towards achieving certain objectives. Other
than raising funds for the school auditorium, they included: 1) enriching
extra-curricula activities and enhancing students’ capability in undertaking
projects; 2) taking part in community activities and learning inter-personal skills;
3) promoting healthy art and culture, and eradicating “yellow culture”.
These
goals may sound idealistic but if we look at the young people nowadays, we may
have a different view. The activities organized in those days may be hectic and
tiring, but we never ceased to learn the skill to deal with problems of human
relationships, and balance society’s work with academic studies.
The
heyday of CCFMS was in the years 1962-1965. Those years also saw a fierce
contention between the old and new forces in Southeast Asia. Progressive forces
tended to lean towards newly emerging countries such as China. It was therefore
natural for members of the Society to include songs and music from China to
form the bulk of their repertoires.
What
about Western music and songs? Indeed, there were many members of the Society
who were dabbling with Western folk songs and classical music. Hora Staccato and Santa Lucia were some of the cherished
titles members liked to play or sing.
Regardless
of whether they are Oriental or Occidental, evergreen music would often reside
in the subconscious for a very long time. The moment we hear such music, we would respond immediately
and bring our memories back to those growing-up days.
CCFMS
held a musical concert at Victoria Theatre in 1962. That was the Society’s only
large-scale musical concert in its entire history, and the magazine produced
for the event is also unique and extremely valuable.
Firstly,
there were many lists of performers and crew members from the different performing
groups. Secondly, the programme chart listed 17 performing items. From this,
one could draw some conclusions regarding the strength and potential of the Society. One could also obtain
pertinent information, such as the kind of songs or music members preferred,
the kind of instruments they played, the members who were capable of performing
solo, and so on.
Theory
In
1963, there was an article entitled “On Music” written by Xue Yu in Chung
Cheng’s graduation magazine. It compared the differences between music and
other forms of art, such as literature, drama and motion pictures. One of the
segments has this to say:
“We
would often make this kind of mistake when we listen to music. We only listen
to its tune, whether it is nice, pleasant or funny, but we seem to ignore its
content. Such an evaluation of music is based on pure aestheticism. Many people
do not normally bother about the content, emotions, harmony and tempo… A
musician or music lover should strive to raise his or her standard of
performance and appreciation.”
The
above showed that students in those days were no longer satisfied with the mere
perceptual understanding of music. They had started to attempt to understand
and research on music and its theories.
The
fact is, leading members of the Society did take on the task of offering theory
classes in a bid to lift standards. What is important is that there was a
concerted effort to raise standards.
The
sixties was generally a period where
material abundance was still lacking. The desire to form a folk music society
was never easy. The writings in this volume have highlighted the conditions
under which the Society had to operate. We did not have all the musical instruments
we needed. We did not even have proper musical scores, let alone systematic
coaching on musical theories. Yet, impossible as it may seem, CCFMS had since
1959 formed one unit after another, including a Chinese musical instruments
ensemble, a harmonica ensemble, a female choir, a senior choir and a junior
choir. The Society’s yearly performances had made an impact on both teachers
and students.
Support
The
support from other student societies in Chung Cheng was equally crucial. These
societies had indeed nurtured many talents for local art circles. Chung Cheng
Folk Music Society and Chung Cheng Drama Society jointly organized three
concerts in a row to raise funds for the school auditorium in the years
1962-65. The size of student participation was unprecedented; it included
participation of other societies, such
as the Art Society and the Science Society which provided technical and
logistical support.
The
Chinese Musical Instruments Ensemble of CCFMS could be considered as one of the
trail-blazers in the sixties. It topped the inter-school competitions on many
occasions. Without the recollections from those who were directly involved,
many people would not have known that many of the student instrumentalists
embarking on a musical journey had actually started from zero. It was one
strenuous step after another; many performing on stage while still
understudying. In his write-up, Tan Guan Seng had this to say, “Those who
learned the erhu were more than hardworking. They went on stage a few months
after learning the instrument. The uniformity of the bow movements and the
overall credible performance belied the fact that many of these young musicians
were in fact rookies.”
In
comparison to the current situation in Singapore, whether students specialize
in music or any other form of art, they are never short of the best
instructors, equipment and facilities. Recourse to digital technology and
dedicated specialists is something unthinkable in the past. Nevertheless, it is
the hard work invested in those days that has given rise to the competence and
excellence of the current musical expertise one sees in Singapore today.
Localization
Immigrants
made up the bulk of Singapore society. Their lifestyles, cultural proclivity
and educational training can be traced back to their respective mother
countries. Chinese instrumental music, for instance was the offshoot of Chinese
Opera with members consisting mainly of older instrumentalists.
After
Singapore achieved self-government in 1959, the interest in Chinese
instrumental music began to gain traction among the young. There were ensembles
formed at various community organizations and schools, and their repertoires
consisted of works from many other countries.
The
difference is that attention was gradually being drawn to the idea of
“localization”. The 1962 concert magazine mentioned above carries two relevant
articles entitled “Develop Local Operas” and “Development of Local National
Wind and String Instrumental Music”. In these articles, calls were made for
performances to incorporate local contents and local musical instruments from
other ethnic groups.
Those
calls have to a large extent been translated into reality today. Chinese
instrumental music has since the eighties become part of mainstream art and
culture. It was made possible thanks to the persistent efforts put in by many
competent musicians, some of whom, such as Zheng Chaoji 郑朝吉, Ang Lam Seng 洪南成, Wang Mazhong 王傌忠 and Lin Yali 林亚历, were members of CCFMS
Many
musical personalities from Singapore or Southeast Asia are ever ready to infuse
the distinct qualities of instruments from the West and the East, and to produce
outstanding works which reflect different ethnic cultures and ingredients.
Going Forward
How should Chinese folk music be developed to give itself a chance to compete and flourish? The debate over this topic in those days was timely and necessary. What is lamentable is that just as CCFMS was about to mature and further scale up its influence, it had to face the harsh reality of external political pressure.
In
1966, the school authorities terminated all normal activities hitherto carried
out by in-house student societies. The two societies in Chung Cheng had to call
off the fourth joint concert which was then being prepared with gusto.
Thereafter,
our music-loving members had no choice but to seek outlets to further pursue
their interests. Some of them strived to upgrade their skills, some took part
in organizations outside the school, some took the initiatives to set up music
circles and some went abroad for further studies. Many have made laudable
contributions in terms of training themselves to be competent musical
performers as well as working assiduously to nurture Singapore’s next generation
of musicians. Others became orchestral conductors, conveners of musical
troupes, and some became music teachers. They include Lin Zheyuan林哲源, Sun Qingshui 孙清水, Ye Ruiping 叶瑞平, Mo Zexi, 莫泽熙 Zheng Chaoji 郑朝吉, Hong Nancheng 洪南成, Lin Yali 林亚历, Ye Chiuyue 叶秋月 and Shen Xingyang 沈星扬. This is what Hong
Nancheng has to say about his musical journey:
“Chung
Cheng Folk Music Society was my musical cradle. It nurtured my growing interest
and provided me with the motivation to embark on the path of musical
excellence. The melodies made up of a motley of musical instruments by the lake
and the gorgeous scenery of the lake have vanished. But my mind is constantly
stimulated by these unforgettable beautiful memories.”
Fifty
years have come and gone. Alumni hair may turn grey today but the smiles and tears
of yesteryear are not forgotten. Chung Cheng alumni continue to come together,
particularly during the Lunar New Year period. Whenever there is a gathering,
there will be entertainment items, such as skits, poetry recitals and solo
performances; but singing has always been the most popular. The many excellent
singers among the alumni are able to perform on stage anytime, anywhere. Surely
future gatherings which resemble the one held in January last year will be even
more exciting and more colourful.
We
hope that this commemorative magazine will generate further interest so that
the tradition championed by Chung Cheng Folk Music Society will carry on for a
long time yet.
