Well-known singing competition organized by Radio Malaya named Talentime in the 1950's ignited huge following from citizens of Singapore and Malaysia. Many amateur singers started forming local bands to produce locally made music. The next decades saw the growth in live performance music and successful album launches followed by crowd warming audience.

In the 1960's it was known as the Golden Age for Singapore local music scene. A performance by Cliff Richard's rock band and their collaboration with local Singapore band was monumental. It provided inspiration to immature music enthusiasts to establish local Singapore bands. Thus began the growth of Singapore's music scene, famous for producing local talents like The Quests as well as The Thunderbirds. Their debuts in the early sixties broke many records. The Crescendos were the first ever local band to establish a partnership with renowned music record label Philips International. The Quests hit singles had been at the pinnacle of Singapore music charts for twelve consecutive weeks. Invitations poured in to the bands to conduct their performance overseas. Malay bands were extremely popular in the sixties as well. A local hit named Pop Yeh-Yeh, which is a unique blend of rock and Malay melody, provided heavy influence to subsequent hit bands such as Siglap Five. They had conducted performance all over Malaysia, including perfoming to a royal family in Malaysia. Malay rock band Sweet Charity had enjoyed success for more than 20 years up till the eighties.

In the 1970's, it was a period of rapid decline for the local music scene. There are a couple of reasons for the decline. First reason would be the independence of Singapore in achieved in 1965. British military soldier began returning to their home country and demand for band performance fell dramatically at the clubs. Another reason is the rise of the hippie culture. Singapore government has openly discouraged local young males from keeping a long hair as they are concerned with the hippie culture's association with drugs and sex. Singapore government proceeded to ban rock bands from performing in Singapore in order to curb the hippie culture from spreading. Popular band Bee Gees had been ordered to leave immediately after their performance in Singapore. Many local bands' careers were unstable and many disbanded as well. Most went to overseas for greater opportunities.

In the 1980's, a hit song composed by the famous Tokyo Square named Within You'll Remain reignited Singapore music atmosphere. It was covered by Chyna lead singer and was a success with the combination of many instruments combined, including a Chinese zither.

A total of 5 Singaporean bands combined forces to release Class Acts, a hit music record which went to sell more than ten thousand copies. It was also extremely popular in Thailand with more than one thousand copies sold. Within You'll Remain even topped the Thai music charts. The song production was troubled due to music piracy when illegal vendors starting selling pirated music cassettes.

In the 1990's, it was a period where music which are non-mainstream began to flourish. “So Happy”, a hit song composed by The Oddfellows topped the local chart for the Singapore famous radio station. They were one of the first music producers to create and provide self-funding for their first album. BMG, a renowned record label subsequently bought over the distribution rights. The album sold well, and is a huge achievement to the local band. It sold over 2,000 records locally and propelled the bands into stardom. The Padres, an independent rock band, was the first local English music band to form a partnership with Rock Records. For much of the 90's, many bands were formed and they started producing non-mainstream rhythm categories such as garage rock and punk. The older generation may have recalled several of the bands such as Force Vomit or Concave Scream.

From the 70's to 90's, music piracy hit the local Singapore music scene hard and many bands were unable to achieve commercial success. Local support was not encouraging as well. The pinnacle of the local music scene will always be in the sixties which all Singaporeans can be proud of.

If one looks closely and scout around in details, pouncing at every opportunity, something will materialize. That was apt for the case for Singapore's homegrown music entrepreneur named Mah Chern Wei. A latest trending news was on the front page music scene where renowned giant Fender, a producer for the famous Stratocaster guitar, is venturing into the headset business after making an offer to acquire Aurisonics. Aurisonics was based in Nashville that is a boutique ear phone maker. It was a huge accomplishment for the 5 year old business company. Mah had played a pivotal role in bringing the company to its success today.

With an illustrious history dating back to 1946, Fender has touched and transformed music worldwide and in nearly every genre: rock ‘n' roll, country and western, jazz, rhythm and blues and many others. Everyone from beginners and hobbyists to the world's most acclaimed artists and performers have used Fender instruments and amps, in the process making the company not only a revered music industry name, but also a cultural icon.

It all began with a conversation via Skype. In 2004, Mah had been peddling bass guitars during his 2nd year term as a student in Singapore National University. He was majoring in Communications & New Media. He saw an opportunity to sell top range USA products. He began putting full focus on those high end products range.

In 2012, he made a decision to diversify his business ventures and market a brand new product segment. Earphones and headphones sales were just taking off and sales were growing year on year. Around 290 million earphones and headphones were sold all over the world in 2011.He discovered Aurisonics after scouting around, which were still small and growing. Aurisonics produced an extremely niche product which is a sophisticated earphone for musicians, expert audio engineers as well as sophisticated audiophile. They used it in studios and during live performance for the highest sound quality when listening to the music.

Mah recognized the potential of the company and product instantly and immediately called the founder Mr Dale Lott for a negotiation to purchase the company. Mah initiated one Skype conversation with Dale and the two hit it off on the right note. Mah recollected that they did not know that only two person is running the company from a basement. He was amazed that the two-man co-operation can produce such a fine quality products. However, he believed in the good branding and product Aurisonics had. He did not have a single doubt the quality of the products.

Business and sales was good. From 2012 to 2016, Mah assisted in growing the business and own career. The growth in sales had propelled his own fortunes and career. He started by managing retail sales for Singapore and finally moving to international sales. He became business partner. Aurisonics had very little marketing dollars to spend and channeled all resources to build up the brand by fusing high end technology with sleek craftsmanship in order to make the products sound better compared to other similar products. The good personal culture of the company was maintained.

His strategy and focus had established Aurisonics as a famous brand with a supportive fan base. Business is growing by viral marketing. The distributors had been supportive as well by investing in Aurisonics and growing the brand in key export markets. Mah sincerely believes now that Aurisonics, being a component of Fender, will be able to continue the innovation and make better products. Mah hopes that their products will bring joy and positive impact to customers, which in turn translate into good growth for the company. Only the sky is the limit. And it all began by keeping a close watch on the ground.

2016 was a fiasco, we lost last year celebrities like Maurice White, Phife Dawg, David Bowie, George Martin, Glenn Frey, Alan Rickman, George Michael and so many others. We were devastated recently by Prince's death that shook us as much as in January with David Bowie's death.

Prince helped to form a new uncompromising, different and new vision through his music, much more than a cultural icon. His songs went beyond criticism which for sure gave him the title of one of the greatest singers of all time with one of the most outstanding and original voices, the owner of a contagious energy, and is important to mention that he was one great musician ahead of his time.

Prince has his place and importance in the music World, simple as that, even after death his place or importance will not be denied. Some musicians from Singapore, who always believed in the importance of Prince in their lives. Here you can read their tribute.

TIM DE COTTA (TAJ, L.A.B.)

His roots came from funk and soul and these rhythms blended with his spirit that was free and wild was the reason why the masses revere his songs. Many artists of this new generation bring with them the best traits of musical genre adopted by Prince and bring to the masses through custom traces of them. Prince's music was so peculiar and incomparable, and yet it was real and overwhelming that surely will be eternalized in the music we hear today and the songs you hear in the future. Its different and controversial personality changed and touched many lives, and even after his death remains to do it. Prince is a legend.

DEAN CHEW (Darker Than Wax)

An age of instant gratification and creativity becomes something entirely scarce Prince was the representative of a group of artists who no longer see as often. It's a shock.

VANESSA FERNANDEZ (Vandetta)

Hear that Prince, a legend of music passed away, definitely is a hard way to start the day. Know that someone who inspired millions of people through his music is a gift that brought joy to the masses, and now he is gone.

MOHAMED HANIS B ISHAK (Spacedays, pictured centre)

Back in Secondary Scholl, I've listened to Purple Rain and 1999, and honestly, my love for Prince came to grow pretty late on, because of all his song the only one that had my total appreciation at that time was "when Doves Cry".

But, Prince's fierce and exploration of love at the most, got me only in NS when my appreciation for him became intense because, from the moment I was feeling distant and isolated, his songs hit me during the nights I spent listening to him. Not only that, his funky songs got me.

It was a heavy hit knowing about his dead last night, and it was even heavier after Bowie's death. Prince was always ahead of his time, his thoughts, intelligence and strong personality. A genius. His music will always follow me as a friend and counselor.

DRU CHEN

Through Prince and also David Bowie, I could explore so many senses and self-expression around the music, and not only that but also sexuality, spirituality, astistry and my own sense of funk. My violin teacher along with him influenced my life directly and show me how to feel good about myself being uncompromising and different. I had the oportunity to meet and to work with Maya & Nandy McCleanand Dr Fink, his former band mates, and it was evident to see how Prince's influence affect them.

Prince is in my way to express myself and every note I play or even in my falsetto, as well as the deep rhythm of funk in my songs. Prince's death made me see life in a different way because it is more delicate than it seems. Do your best regardless of what you do is essential while you can do it.

The era of 1960, showered the Singapore people with the melodious music. At that time, various local bands proved their talent with the original compositions and became popular by giving stage performances featuring live and recorded albums successfully. This is the era where the opportunity for the local bands to inspire by the western groups like “The Beatles”, “The Shadows”, “Blue Diamonds” and so on. As Singapore is the home for diverse culture, in this era, A Malay (Malaysian pop) a music style also arose and influenced by British rock in 1960. These bands performed in Malaya language, English language and instrumental music also. Singapore is the fusion of different musical styles, along with the popular music, even urban music also emerges in the region. Before securing the Independence, Singapore merged with Malaysia for a short period. In the year 1961, Malaysian Radio station started a cultural program, “Suara Singapura” which broadcasted in many languages . After getting the great response to this program, the Singapore television started a multi-lingual program in the year 1963, to develop intercultural relations between the people of Singapore and Malaya.

The Singapore local musicians regularly cited Cliff Richard (Sir Cliff Richard, a philanthropist and a British pop musician, who was recognized as one of the British top singers) and started their career by imitating him.

Music scenario of Singapore in 1950

In the middle of the era Radio Malaya(before independence Malaysia is known as Malaya) started a competition and hugs the hearts of Singapore singers and gathered a following in Malaysia and Singapore. In the year 1961, the top British singer along with his electric bands appeared on the Happy World Stadium. This is an era where the instrumental music became popular by the introduction of electric guitar and electric music by the pop stars.

In the late 1950's, the classical composer Leong Yoon Pin provided help mainly to the orchestral and choral works by his collections, this marked an introduction of choral music and the formation of the Youth Choir, which laurel internationally. Various other foreign performers proved their talent in Singapore including “Rolling Stones” also. The youth was more attracted by the Cliff Richard's performances and began to prove themselves with their own bands. The local performers are in the initial stages, and not having proper training for playing instruments and music, most picked up music as their profession and later they practiced and imitated the top singers.

Popularity altitude

During World War II music platform changed to a new direction and strengthened. The Japanese troops were entertained by these local music bands during their war period. This made the local bands to prove themselves and made music as their occupation. With the experience gained in the Vietnam War, where the local bands performed in their military camps, and in dance halls and performing in many other different venues , made the local singers to sign to the recording companies and even signed with television and radio also. As there was demand for the popular British and Americal songs, the local bands covered them and later released albums also.

Musical sequences at the end of the era

At the end of the era, there is a decline in the local music performances. When the Singapore freed from British after 140 years, there is a decrease of foreign troops entering into the country, in addition to this the government campaign begun and rejected to degenerate the influence of external culture. For many reasons the popular bands disbanded, and because of the sequences raised at that time many musicians shifted to other National Services and some settled down and taken music as their profession. One can say that this is the most significant time for the musicians to get popular and they never get a chance to regain to get the same popularity.