Restaurateur Lee Chin Sin wins MediaCorp’s Gift Of Song songwriting competition

SINGAPORE — Singapore has spoken: Mr Lee Chin Sin’s These Are The Days is the winning song for SG50: The Gift Of Song, a songwriting competition organised by MediaCorp to celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday.

More than 65,000 votes were cast in total for the three finalists’ songs during the seven-week voting period, which began on Jan 8. The other two songs are Being Here, written by songwriting duo Mr Dennis Ng and Mr Jared Chan; and We Are Stars by graphic designer Mr Andrew Lee, who is the brother of songwriter Dick Lee. 

SG50: The Gift Of Song received close to 1,000 entries within a six-week submission period last year, and the finalists were chosen by a panel of judges that included Mr Bernard Lim, Head, Family Segment, Customer Group, MediaCorp, musician Mr Jeremy Monteiro, Mr Dick Lee, composer Mr Sydney Tan, Ms Georgina Chang, MediaCorp’s vice president for the Celebrities Network; and Mdm Zakiah A Halim, senior vice-president, Malay broadcast division at MediaCorp.

“I’m very, very, very happy, and also very honoured, because it is such a momentous occasion and it is a great opportunity to share my thoughts and feelings with Singaporeans for our 50th birthday,” said Mr Lee, who is the co-owner of two restaurants. “When I first wrote the song it was a very personal approach to how I felt about the 50th birthday of Singapore, it is really about taking the opportunities that we have been given and reaching for more.”

He added: “I hope that this personal message will find a certain universal resonance when people listen to it, and they will also feel like they are optimistic about their opportunities, and really just pursue their dreams.”

“I think when the three songs were eventually put in videos and we looked at it, all of us had the feeling, we knew this one was probably going to be the winner,” said Mr Lim. “It’s got a very singalong chorus and a very nice melody. The kids featured in the video made the song a lot nicer as well. So amongst the judges, we had the feeling that this one was going to be the eventual winner.”

These Are The Days will be made into a music video showcasing Singaporeans from all walks of life, as well as winners from MediaCorp’s talent shows – Ms Farisha Ishak from Channel 5’s The Final 1, Mr Shabir from Vasantham’s Vasantham Star and Mr Alfred Sim from Channel U’s Project Superstar. Other performing artistes include Singaporean singer-songwriter Ms Tay Kewei, MediaCorp artiste Ms Julie Tan, SG Mania runner-up Mr Sufie Rashid, local musicians Lorong Boys, as well as the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir.

The music video will also be broadcast across MediaCorp’s television channels, radio stations, Out-Of-Home (OOH) screens, and over-the-top service Toggle, in the lead-up to National Day 2015.