Part 2 of 2 : Review of 任 Sing 合唱团 【阿卡：音乐小说】

12 July 2025

7:30pm

Zarith Sofiah Opera House

Warning: Because my husband had presented a piece in this concert, my review will be exceptionally biased and one-sided and you should find a better, more authentic, more truthful review out there. But you won't find one that is more heartfelt than mine. So keep reading.

We have made two trips down (or is it up?) the Causeway to attend the choir's rehearsals, each time at a different location. My goodness, the space that Johor has. Our rehearsal spaces are no match for these spacious multi-purpose spaces that they were using!

The first venue we were at was previously a cafe, and the second is actually a gym, with gym equipment tucked neatly into one corner, and speakers situated all around the room which, I imagine, would have been playing loud and energetic 动次动次 beats to accompany some intense HIIT classes just a few hours prior to their rehearsal.

The choir practiced the programme that they were presenting for the concert, and I was so honoured to have a sneak peek at the music that they have chosen to sing. The first time the choir sang, I was stunned. The same way I was stunned by the sounds of a Formula 1 engine. Stunned and moved to tears. Wow, how can a choir sound so good? (Side tangent: I cried when I heard the loud growl of Porsche car engines at the Singapore Grand Prix. My goosebumps on high alert. Sounds like that make me emotional, for reasons I cannot explain.)

When it was time to approach Zhangyi's piece, I could definitely feel a tension in the air. It was one of the first times that they have tried to put together the piece, so they did the good old sing-in-solfege, saying the words in rhythm, singing in movable doh etc. It was a fascinating experience for a string player like me who doesn't really dabble in choir music. Even their "exercises" sounded so good. That's when I knew this choir was really good, they've got chemistry 默契十足! And for good reason too. They have been singing together for years and years. Since high school to be exact.

It is not just chemistry either, when you hear them sing, you hear their passion for singing. Cliché but it's so apparent when they sing. They are weary from their hectic lives, work and family obligations but they don't sound that way at all. They sing with their hearts and enjoy each and every moment their voices blend together, and I'm sitting all the way at the back of the room in stunned amazement. I want to join a choir! I want what they have! I want to sing with such abandon and... passion.

But my favourite part of these JB escapades. Meeting our new JB friends. The choir has 50+ members so it was impossible to know every single member, but the ones that we did get to know, I really treasure and appreciate how easily the new friendships were forged. While we got to know each other over meals, I shared my personal stories with them, and found out that though we may be SG/MY, but we are more similar than we are different. My worry of being found out as an imposter half-Malaysian disappeared. They all knew the (super ulu) area 四湾岛 where my grandparents lived, where my usual Malaysia haunts were, and conversation just flowed.

The suppers that they brought us to were epic and so fun. They drive far out to different eateries, something we would never do in SG... maybe because we don't all have our own cars. I sat down with several choir members I don't know or remember their names of, and we cheered so loud, like drunk soccer fans whenever the Malaysian badminton team scored a point at the Malaysia vs India match at some Singapore hosted badminton tournament. Ironically, we were at an Indian mamak stall for our supper.

It was our first concert experience at the Opera House, and despite the drier than usual acoustics, the choir sounded beautiful with just some slight sublime amplification. The programme featured a story about Aka and Bella (a play on the word acapella). The evening's programme also only featured new or recent works, none of the usual choral repertoire, nothing classical. Almost every piece involved someone from the choir, or a young Asian composer/arranger (SG/MY/TW).

What struck me the most were the lyrics of each song. Chinese/Mandarin is my mother tongue, and not my strongest language. So I took more time to read the lyrics and tried to understand them for its deeper meanings. I am always mesmerized by how a single carefully chosen character can carry so much intention. How some idioms and stories only make more sense in Chinese than in English. Before the concert, Zhangyi and I attempted to translate Yu Xin's《越过长堤回家吃早餐》into English, and I think we er... were brave and have tried our best... the original is still the best. (See here for the text)

One of the standout elements of the concert programme were the touching dedications to several of their teachers from their school / choir interest group (my guess). Those songs and the lyrics brought me to tears. Being a former educator myself, I wondered how many students would even think about me in the years to come, let alone write a whole song dedicated to you and have the entire choir put it together. Cue a river of tears from an emotional teacher of music students......

The concert also featured some solos, including two young girls, Yuqing (whose parents were both in the choir, and probably met in the choir!) and Olivia who sang and played the violin. It is so heartwarming to see young musicians take on the big stage and perform their piece 《风》，in front of such a huge audience. Their sweet harmonies really touched us all, that they came back for an encore at the end of the concert!

The concert was a brilliantly coordinated effort by all the members of the choir. Artists did the artwork, writers did the writing, and everyone chipped in with whatever talents they could offer. The choir should be so proud of their achievement, it takes a monumental effort to gather so many voices to sing and perform as one.

I was a bystander this time, and I did feel quite useless during this whole experience.. but it gave me the time and space to observe everything and everyone from my unique perspective. I left JB yesterday with a longing and yearning to come back and be part of that special entity, a group of humans setting aside time and energy to make music and make our community a little more beautiful. (Please hit me up if you need an arrangement or two, Ren Sing Choir! 😊)