SINGAPORE, April 17 — When musician duo Jean Low and Tang Yuen Wai heard the news that live music performances including busking would be allowed again from March 29, they immediately applied to perform on March 30.
“It did not matter where, I did not think. I just booked a slot at Changi Village during the daytime that was less popular and easy to get,” said Mr Tang, 63, with a grin.
The duo, who are friends and who perform classics and dialect songs as Tango & Jean at Ang Mo Kio Central, Paya Lebar and Changi Village, were avid buskers when Covid-19 hit and silenced live music.
They, like many others who used to liven up Singapore’s streets with all genres of live music, were ecstatic to read the announcement that busking would finally be allowed to resume after a two-year hiatus.
During this time, Ms Low, 55, has had to rely on her savings and government subsidies to get by.
“It wasn’t easy but also not that difficult. The Government provided help and we lived within our means, moment by moment,” she said.
While Ms Low remained unemployed, Mr Tang continued to teach at four schools as a harmonica band conductor.
Now that they can busk again, they are planning to do so three times a week.
“We want to busk while we can. With the uncertainty of Covid-19, we are not confident that the rules won’t change again,” said Ms Low.
Similarly, 28-year-old Firdaus Osman, who had been performing live music since 2016, was elated to hear that busking was allowed once more, although he has not yet returned to the streets as he is studying for his examinations at the moment.
He is taking a masters’ degree in electrical engineering. Before the pandemic, he was a full-time musician performing at gigs and busking but he took up a full-time engineering role when the pandemic killed live performances.
“My ideal lifestyle is to have a full-time role and be a musician at the side,” he said.
For the past two years, he said, he felt lonelier than usual because he could not perform.
“Music has always been there for me as a way to make new friends and connect.”
Even livestreaming and online gigs were “very demotivating”, he said, even though he continued to do what he could during the pandemic to keep busking alive.
As a member of The Buskers’ Association, he collaborated with private educational institution PSB Academy to organise The Buskers’ Festival (Apr 2) to raise awareness and funds for buskers whose livelihoods were affected by the pandemic.
“As a performer, we crave interacting with an audience,” he said. “Without an audience it’s not really a show.”
Singer-song writer Jason Yu, 27, was in Melbourne when he heard that busking could resume in Singapore.
Now back in Singapore after recently graduating from Monash University with a Bachelor of Music, he is planning to renew his license in the upcoming busking auditions held by the National Arts Council (NAC) and hit the streets soon.
Buskers in Singapore are required to attend an NAC audition and if they receive approval, they will obtain a busking card. They can then apply for busking slots to perform in various locations and at various timings islandwide.
The licence lasts for a year, after which they will have to undergo the audition process again to renew it.
“It’s about time. Things opened earlier in Melbourne than in Singapore. For entertainment events like music festivals, people weren’t wearing masks and they were packed like sardines,” he said.
“As a performer, I feed off the energy of the crowd. It makes busking worth all the effort.”
Meanwhile, for 33-year-old Karyn Wong, the resumption of live music on the streets is an opportunity to start something new.
She received her busking license during the pandemic after attending the NAC auditions twice.
Ms Wong said the pandemic had led her to reflect on what she really wanted to do with her life, and caused her to leave her full-time position in marketing to start freelancing as a host and singer.
“After looking at where I was and what I wanted to pursue, I thought it was my last chance to pursue the life I want,” she said. “When I have kids, I won’t be able to do it.”
Ms Wong, who now freelances as a part-time presenter at the Love 972 radio station and also acted in the Jack Neo-directed film “Ah Girls Go Army”, said she is still planning her first busking experience.
“I will play the keyboard and bring a small speaker, mic and iPad stand. I am still trying to customise my ipad stand to have my Instagram handle,” she said.
She will be busking for the very first time on April 26 at East Coast Park.
“I am very excited but scared. My husband is coming with me. I am keeping it a secret and have not told the rest of my family yet.”
Ms Elaine Ng, the senior director of engagement and participation at NAC, said that while there were fewer applications from new entrants and renewing buskers for auditions during the pandemic, applications have also now returned to pre-pandemic levels, with 121 interested buskers for the upcoming round of auditions on April 19 and 20.
“We are confident that there will be more endorsed buskers on the scheme and back on the streets to enliven and bring vibrancy to Singapore’s urban spaces once more,” she said. — TODAY
