The Local Recording Industry and Chinese Songs in Singapore, 1950s and 1960s

Authors

• Song Wei Goh

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

This paper argues that the local Chinese recording industry in post-Second World War Singapore functioned as a discursive sphere, which reflected the different understandings between the state and the people about what constituted “local Chinese culture”, during the formative years of the newly independent Singapore. In the 1950s and 1960s, technological advancement and state policies motivated the establishment of numerous local record companies with many singers discovered and recordings produced. Following Singapore’s independence, the local Chinese song recordings were employed by different agencies into narratives of nation-building and portrayed as the formation of “local Chinese culture”. This was notwithstanding the fact that most titles recorded were cover songs, with diverse origins in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Yet at the same time, the songs were criticised as “decadent sounds 靡靡之音” for their revolving theme of romance and were considered a hinderance to the nation’s progress.

DOI

10.1163/26659077-20252813

First Page

1

Last Page

21

Recommended Citation

Wei Goh, Song (2025) "The Local Recording Industry and Chinese Songs in Singapore, 1950s and 1960s," Manusya, Journal of Humanities: Vol. 28: No. 1, Article 7.
DOI: 10.1163/26659077-20252813
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/manusya/vol28/iss1/7