Impromptu NDP song goes viral
Trio's National Day song praised and scheduled to play live as part of celebrations
For almost 19 years, Mr Bryan Tan and his two childhood friends dreamt of recording a song together.
When they finally did, writing a National Day song on a whim, they did not expect it to go viral in a week. My Little Red Dot has garnered more than 320,000 views on Facebook since it was shared on July 27.
Mr Tan, 36, and his friends Mr Timothy Kua and Mr Peter Huang of home-grown vocal band Micappella fame, started hanging out as a group while studying at Anglo-Chinese Junior College.
Mr Tan, who wrote the lyrics and is in the finance industry, said: "It took off more than expected - it was supposed to be a little song just for family and friends."
The trio conceptualised the idea for the song early last month. The process was fast, Mr Tan said, and it took slightly more than a week to write and record it.
Mr Tan laughed off suggestions that their song was meant to replace this year's National Day song, Because It's Singapore.
"I know that some people have thought of that. We have seen them saying it online too, but that is not why we wrote it," he said.
The song has its roots in the sense of belonging the three friends feel.
Mr Tan said that at one point or another, each of the trio lived overseas, but they all missed home when they were away and always returned thankful.
Mr Kua, 36, who works in the tech industry, said they had written My Little Red Dot on a whim and wanted to make the song as heartwarming as they could.
They drew references to icons and emotions that every Singaporean could relate to.
He said: "It means a lot to hear from the people who have been touched by our song, when they tell us they teared listening and they were moved."
My Little Red Dot has since been played on the radio and will be performed live on television on National Day.
Mr Tan said: "There was a foreign domestic worker who told us our song reaffirmed her decision to want to eventually migrate here.
"Imagine that, our song could make people feel something so strong."
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