Singing Singapore Proud

The inaugural Asian Youth Games (AYG) recently held in Singapore provided an unforgettable platform for three of our Year 3 music students to showcase their vocal talents and boost their stage confidence. Moira Loh Xiao Hui, Lydia Lim Ya Sze and Amni Musfirah were talent spotted and invited by the AYG Creative and Production Team, and the AYG Music Director, Mr Iskandar Ismail, to perform at the opening ceremony held at a packed Singapore Indoor Stadium.

This was the biggest stage all three students had ever performed on. In front of a large and exuberant audience, Amni was one of three lead vocalists who belted out an upbeat rendition of the theme song ‘Asia’s Youth, Our Future’, accompanied by dancers from the National University of Singapore Centre for the Arts. Moira and Lydia jointly recorded and performed an aria in Sanskrit to accompany a dance item titled ‘Spirit of Evolution’.

Amni also performed a solo ballad version of the theme song at the closing ceremony, which has been recorded and distributed to schools. “This was a great opportunity that not every teenager will get. I am very honoured and proud to sing for my country,” she enthused.

The girls’ performance was all the more significant as they each had to learn the songs on their own using scores and CDs given to them from the organisers.

Away from the sporting arena, another group of SOTA students were busy putting Singapore on the map. In the spirit of cultural exchange, booths showcasing the participating AYG countries were set up in the World Cultural Village at Swissotel. SOTA was chosen by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee to design and man the Singapore booth.

The students who volunteered for this honour developed a concept based on Singapore roads, which reflect Singapore’s history, culture and development. Visitors to the booth could play games such as five stones, chapteh and Jenga (with pictures of local food pasted on the blocks), watch a video produced by the students featuring iconic places in Singapore, sign a guest book and take away bookmarks printed with prominent road names and an accompanying description of the history of the road name. Besides the creative aspects, it gave the students first hand experience at project planning and management. They also got to interact with athletes, coaches and delegates from the Asian countries as well as learn and share about their own and other cultures. Visitors to the booth were intrigued by the freshness, creativity and strength of the concept thought out by the students.

Visual arts student Lee Lip Jiang said, “I volunteered to participate in this project because I wanted to project a positive image of Singapore and have a chance to interact with people from different countries. I learnt a lot about Singapore in the process as well as the importance of precision in our craft.”