SINGAPORE 60's: ANDY's POP MUSIC INFLUENCE IS A PERSONAL MUSIC, MEMORY TRAIL. BLOGGER DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO VIDEOS, AUDIO TRACKS AND IMAGES. THEY ARE UPLOADED FOR FUN, EDUCATIONAL, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES AND HAVE BEEN CREDITED. BLOG IS NOT SPONSORED IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. INFORM BLOGGER OF COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT COPY THE POSTS; GET PERMISSION N CREDIT ME IF YOU DO. ANDY LIM LA (NOVEMBER, 2008) -
(新加坡六十年代安迪的流行音乐影响力)
There are many moments when I find a rush going to my head; that there are generous people out there who write positively about others but yet do not reveal who they are. Old Bloke is one. Thank you for writing this piece about Siva Choy. Singapore 60s Music fans will ever be grateful for this gem of a write-up about him.
"There'll never be another Siva Choy. And the world will be a poorer place for it.
The most apt description I've ever heard of Siva was while jovially chatting with a mutual good friend, now gone too - Zul Sultan of Tania. It was, "genius bordering on madman".
Our paths first crossed in 1982. Three years later, I returned to Singapore after being overseas and thus started an almost 40 year friendship, mentorship and the rare chance to be with an incredibly gifted intellectual. The year was 1986, he and I were in a bar, The Ancient Mariner off Adam Road, me with my orange juice (I'm a teetotaller) him with his beer. I'll never forget it.
MC Siva C ft. Kopi Kat Klan: Why U So Like Dat?
YouTube Video by: Famous or Forgotten Mu
I was 27 and he was about 38 going on 39 and gave me some sage advice; "Try to accomplish as much as you can by 40 because the years between now and then will disappear in the blink of an eye." It was one of the rare moments in my life I actually listened to someone and followed his advice relentlessly. I've always been grateful.
I'll never forget it, the rap song and comedy album "Why You So Like Dat," sold 50,000 copies. The newspapers and local music industry described it as "staggering". I witnessed him producing it.
"Siva Choy is brilliant but incredibly humble."
Do I miss the many late night discussions, the many tears (admittedly all mine), the jokes, the nights where he was always invited on stage to sing with Zul and Tania, when we feasted on my horrendous cooking, laughed and joked with each other? Yes and no. What I miss most is his intellect and the deep conversations we had about everything and anything. He was a well read scholar but he knew the life of academia wasn't for him.
The most amazing thing about Siva I found was that for all his talent, ingenuity, creativity, intellect and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it - brilliance, he was incredibly humble; frustratingly so in fact. He did everything possible to avoid the limelight. I miss him.
There'll never be another Siva Choy. And the world will be a poorer place for it. I amongst many certainly feel his loss."
Author: Old Bloke.
13th April, 2024.
Readers can connect to other posts about Siva Choy by clicking his name under Labels below.
A delightfully enchanting tale from good friend, Ronald Ho, that may not move any young person's heart today. But I love it! There were no handphones, lap-tops, digital games or bubble-tea drinks but lots of good 'clean' fun, fruits and BICYCLES! Thanks Ron.
Andy, all kampong boys somehow learn to ride bicycles even though they do not have the luxury of owning one themselves. I was one of them. Learnt to ride adult bicycles by borrowing them. We were poor and could not afford such a luxury back in 1950s.
I found a key which happened to be a master-lock key, and used it to borrow, without permission, an adult bike from an old man who left the bike locked while he went to work. My rides were from 1pm to 3pm till one day, he had the afternoon off and came back at 1.30pm to find his bike had been borrowed.
He was understanding after my apologies but my Mum was furious and thrashed me in his presence. I was made to give up the master key. It was not until 1965 when I had to attend night classes at Lembaga for A level that I bought a $75 bicycle made in Taiwan from the savings I earned while working at Straits Times Periodicals as a clerk for 4 months (I quit as the job was silly and boring) and decided to further my studies.
The bicycle was fun as the rest of the Meltones, except for Richard, could go biking. So Jimmy Appudurai, David Lim, Kelly Tan, Malcolm Alphonso, Billie (David's cousin), Derrick DeAlwis and I decided to ride from Katong to Lim Chu Kang to see Giles Miranda, our classmate who was at SAFTI.
It was a ride I will never forget as it took us through the farms of Paya Lebar, Aw-Kang, and Angmo Kio to Sembawang, and through old Mandai Road during the expansion of Upper Seletar Reservoir, and through old Chua Chu Kang and Jalan Bahar. We had fun stealing rambutans, guava and other fruits from unguarded trees. On the way back, we took the west coast route and landed at old Bouna Vista Road (aka the Gap) where we were thrillingly rode our bikes downhill like Old Thomson Road Grand Prix motorcyclists. Luckily, no one fell or was injured. But we lost half of the rubber on our brakes.
Here is a quote I took from Google AI on the Gap: "Yes, South Buona Vista Road in Singapore was once known as "The Gap" from the 1950s to the 1970s. The road is a curvy, winding, and narrow rural road that runs through hilly terrain and connects Dover to Pasir Panjang. Locals also commonly refer to the road as "99 bends".
It was great to be young. I will not trade my youth days for anything.
Any comment my dear reader? Always welcome for one.
Recently, I recalled my time in Cambridge during Lent term commemorating Jesus’ last week on earth, also known as Passion Week. Although Pontius Pilate found Jesus innocent, he let Jesus to be crucified. He even gave Jesus a Latin title as inscribed in IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM, meaning “Jesus The Nazarene, the King of Jews.” One may commonly find INRI on internet images as given above.
King's College Cambridge Easter: O Sacred Head Sore Wounded:
JS Bach. YouTube Video by: spiritdei.
John 19:19-22. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: "Jesus Of Nazareth, TheKing Of The Jews." Many of the Jews would have read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek, languages commonly used then.
The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews!'
"But this man claimed to be King of the Jews!"
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written!"
Perhaps this sign is so important that all 4 gospels recorded it. Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38 and Matthew 27:37. Aramaic is closely related to Hebrew and was used by common Jews during Jesus’ era, while Hebrew remained the language of the upper class such as in religion and government. It was likely that Jesus and His disciples spoke Aramaic, in addition to Hebrew and Greek.
So what is the Hebrew translation of INRI:ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים (Yeshua` HaNatzri V'Melech HaYehudim. What is interesting and amazing is that the first letters of each of these words gives YHVH, more specifically (יהוה, pronounced as yod hey vav hey). This is the holy name of God. Unfortunately people call This Name, tetragrammaton (by inserting the English vowels, one gets the common found name as YeHoVaH) without knowing its significance. יהוה is recorded more than 6000 times in the Bible. The meaning of This Holy Name is explained in an earlier post below.
Interestingly, during the ancient Passover Festival, Hebrew families would put the family name around the neck of the lamb that they took to the Temple as a sacrifice so that they may receive their own animal thereafter for their Passover dinner.
For the Passover celebration in Jewish times, besides all Jewish males having to present themselves at Jerusalem, the High Priest would need to go to Bethlehem to find a firstbornlamb without broken bones and defect. After that, the High Priest would carry the lamb through the Eastern gate (old city of Jerusalem) to the Temple and numerous worshippers would be singing praises to God, waving their palm branches. There would be inspection over the next four days to confirm that the lamb was indeed without blemish. In the Temple days, at 3:00 pm the unblemished lamb for the Jewish nation was to be sacrificed and presented to the people.
The Parallel Account
Due to the Passover festival, there were already many people in Jerusalem when Jesus (firstborn of Mary) entered through the Eastern gate on a donkey but this time they were shouting Hosanna (meaning “save us”). Over the next four days, Jesus was examined by the Pharisees, Sanhedrin, Herod and Pilate. Eventually in Luke 23:4 “Then said Pilateto the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man."After all interrogation, Jesus was crucified at 9.00 am and died at 3:00 pm without broken bones. Jesus is the Passover Lamb.
This is the Eastern gate (also known as the Golden Gate, Acts 3:2). The Eastern Gate was sealedin AD 1540–41 by order of Suleiman the Magnificent, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Ezekiel 44:1–2, “The man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, ‘This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it.’”. Interestingly, this Golden gate will be open again when Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) and enters Jerusalem by way of the re-opened Eastern Gate.
[King Solomon once said, what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9]
Jesus was Crucified for my sins.
When Jesus died at 3:00pm, the Temple curtain separating the Holy and Most Holy places was torn into two. This was recorded in Mathew 27:50-51. Similar accounts are also given in Mark 15 and Luke 23. It is often interpreted that with the tearing of the curtain, we are now granted direct access to God in the Most Holy Place. However, there is no Ark of Covenant (as it was already lost) in the Most Holy place i.e. God’s presence is absent. Perhaps there is another take on the torn curtains i.e. in ancient times when a Jewish son died, the grieving father would tear his clothes.
Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross:
YouTube Video from: Celebrating Holidays.
Grace and Blessing of God
It is worth noting that Passover is the only feast where God allowed the Israelites to celebrate one month later compared to other ancient feasts. Somehow this grace period seems to imply that there is still time to believe in Jesus as the Passover lamb for our unsaved loved ones and friends. There is still opportunity to repent and receive Jesus, as one’s personal Lord and Saviour.
While the phrase “passion week” sounds sentimental or even romantic, in Latin “passion” really means suffering. However, there is great joy in this suffering of Jesus, as we now have access to the Living God, יהוה through His dying for our sins and His conquering of death through His resurrection.
Wishing you and your family good health, peace and a Blessed Good Friday holiday.
Author: Dr. Phil Chan.
Author: Associate Prof.
Dr. Phil Chan. [NUS].
Thanks Phil for taking so much time during your busy schedule.
Appreciate your sincere ways in explaining biblical passages and
selecting suitable songs for the posting, for so many years now.
Harry Cheok, with his black and white batik shirt,
at the Chinese Swimming Club in 2022.
Harry Cheok won the Johnny Lion of Singapore Competition in the 60s with his group, Willy's Jokers. I have known him for some years now. Harry has kindly allowed me to post his videos when he was on stage at the Chinese Swimming Club. But he wasn't singing the late Mr. Lion's favourites.
If you noticed the date, he is still performing today. Being a retired business person, he has time to spare and jams with his guitar group. I love his flamboyant style and cute personality. Watch the ladies at the bar and see their reaction. Harry is also an accomplished ukulele player and guitarist.
The local folks would say, "He can *gelek well!" Like Mick Jagger.
Thanks Harry for your friendship and sparing the videos.
Can you guess the songs he is singing?
NB:
*gelek = shimmy and shake.
Johnny Lion was a singer from Holland who was accompanied by the Dutch guitar group, The Jumping Jewels. They were very popular in the 60s and 70s and Johnny and the J.Js. have appeared in Singapore.
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