Soup‑Slinger Shouts About Singaporean Song Snafu
Remember that 1986 tune “Count On Me, Singapore” that practically became the unofficial anthem for our late‑Gen X? Well, folks are still buzzing after the latest drama that tried to rip it out of the arcane “National Day” music vault.
Enter Joey „The Beat‑Pirate” Mendoza
- Mendoza, an Indian composer, was accused of snatching the melody and “passing it off” as his own.
- The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) kept it cool – they accepted an apology and moved on.
- That’s where the tempest starts.
Drama Unpacked by Tay Ping Hui
Singapore’s own Tay Ping Hui, the actor‑director who’s seen more dramas on the screen than a TV‑series marathon, took to Instagram to roar (figuratively, of course) at the “plagiarism king.” He said that “plagiarising” is like “stealing” person‑by‑person and then, out of the blue, accusing you of loony‑took‑off deeds.
He slammed the apology as a “mere ‘sorry for the inconvenience’” – a cloak‑and‑dagger dismissal that, in his view, was a shrugging off of a criminal act.
Why Ping Hui Is “Pissed” (and not “Calm Enough”)
On the floor, it’s about pride: the national anthem, the gooseberry of the nation, was allegedly touched by a “charlatan.”
Ping Hui said: “If someone keeps saying to keep cool, I’m not buying it. Why? Because a trickster thought he could use the core of our Singapore story.”
When the Concluding Word Was “Shame”
He wrapped his post up with a neat little phrase that will echo in our digital feeds: “Shame on you.” These words rang like a fire alarm for aficionados of intellectual property.
Two words for us: ‘All ears’ and ‘See a problem?’
