Are you a big fan of the Dunvant Male Voice Choir?
Peter Phillips, our deputy President, originally came up with the idea of bringing the Dunvant Choir to Singapore. Peter hails from Dunvant, which is a small village about five miles from Swansea and both himself and his father were choir members of old. He just “happened” to have a CD of the Choir in his back pocket and played it to the committee, whilst we were enjoying a glass or two of beer. The CD was played, our eyes misted over and the show was on!
What can the public expect from the Choir’s performances?
They are an extremely versatile Choir, with a repertoire encompassing hymns, extracts from musicals, opera and contemporary tunes, as well as Welsh Choral favorites.You will hear them sing tunes like, “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” by Verdi, “Bring him Home” from les Miserables and fun songs like “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. There will also be a few Welsh Choral numbers, including my personal favorite, ‘Myfanwy’ which means ‘Beloved’, a beautiful love song sung in Welsh with harmonies that will take your soul to heaven!
Why is the choral tradition so important in Wales?
Wales is still known as the “Land of Song’ and the Choral tradition still has very strong roots in the cities, towns and villages. Choirs were generally spawned in the church or chapel but the Eisteddfod (a Welsh Cultural celebration of song and poems), has done much to keep singing very much to the fore. Most Welsh schools had an annual Eisteddfod, which all participated in, in a competitive manner. We were thus taught to sing at an early stage of our lives and rugby and song have become synonymous with Wales.
It used to be said that when the crowd started singing at an International Rugby match in Cardiff, the Welsh singing gave the home side a six-point advantage! There is also a belief that we sing because “television came late to Wales’ or “the coal dust in the air effected our vocal chords!”
What sort of activities do the St David’s Society get up to here?
The St David’s Society tries to keep people in contact with their “Welshness”. Tim Openshaw, our Sports convenor has put together a Welsh football team and the results have been pretty encouraging so far. We also have a Golf section and will have a challenge match shortly against the Singapore Scots.Other activities we have had are Casino Nights, Picnics, Barbeques, wake boarding and, believe it or not, we used to have a Welsh Choir here, which we would love to get going again.
What’s your role in all these?
I am the resident of the Society this year, but thank god, I have a fantastic committee, who have worked morning, noon and night to knit the Choir’s visit to Singapore together. Apart from the golf challenge against the Scots, our next gathering will hopefully be a “Night at the Races”, which has proven to be very popular in the past. I envisage we will have an ‘outlandish hat’ theme for the ladies, a la Ascot style and perhaps a prize for the best ‘tipster’ of the evening!
How many Welsh people are there in Singapore?
We have about 50 paid up members plus family members thus far. During the last Rugby World Cup, Tim Openshaw developed an email hit called ‘Tag a Taff'(Taffy being a nickname for a Welshman). It worked wonders and so many new names came to the fore to help ‘swell the ranks’. You don’t have to be Welsh to join the Society by the way. We have several Singaporean members, including yours truly! Our annual Ball will take place at Tanglin Club on March 3 and we are very close to selling out at 180 plus guests, which is very encouraging.
Are there any similarities between Singaporeans and the Welsh?
The Welsh and the Singaporeans I think share a passion and pride of their country. The Welsh people also enjoy their food, just like Singaporeans do. Welsh fare however is nothing comparable to the range of food available in our Lion City and comprises dishes relating to lamb, cheese, leeks or even seaweed! Both the British Club and the Exchange Bar in Asia Square are running some Welsh cuisine, week commencing March 5, so give it a try!
How important is the Welsh language to maintaining the sense of community back home?
Welsh was a compulsory language in schools throughout Wales until the late 50’s/early 60’s. It is a very ‘sing song’ ancient Celtic language but not easy to learn unless spoken at home. The language began to decline as a result and with more and more industry coming into Wales from outside, action had to be taken to keep the language alive. As a result of activities by a movement called the Free Wales Army, Westminster has agreed to have all major road signs in Wales bilingual and started encouraging the development of dedicated Welsh TV and radio channels and thus the decline in the language was staved off.
I was back in Wales in December 2011 to see my new granddaughters and watch Wales lose narrowly to Australia in rugby. My sons and I took a bus into the city and it was full of rugby supporters, both young and old, speaking in Welsh, delightful to hear.
Any thoughts on Welsh independence?
I feel the Welsh are happy as they are. The Queen gave Wales her son to be the Prince of Wales; a gesture which I believe made the Welsh very proud indeed. Any battles between the Welsh and the English are now satisfactorily settled on the rugby field.
What’s something people don’t commonly know about Wales?
The Welsh language (Cymraeg) is the oldest of the European languages. This form of Celtic language is also found in parts of Cornwall and in Brittany (Breton language) in northern France. Also, the famous Captain Scott of the Antarctic set sail from Cardiff in 1910 on his last ill fated voyage to Antarctica.
Catch the Dunvant Male Voice Choir at St George’s Church and The Exchange on March 5 and 9.
