GE2025: 'Look left, look right' and all the essential songs for election season
People's Power Party candidate Samuel Lee (left) and Workers' Party candidate Jimmy Tan are among politicians who have been trying to sing their way into voters' hearts. ST PHOTOS: BRIAN TEO, MARK CHEONG
GE2025: 'Look left, look right' and all the essential songs for election season
SINGAPORE - I look left, look right, look left, look right – and find myself in the middle of a sing-off.
Singapore's upcoming General Election has had plenty of walkabouts, rallies, manifestos and, somewhat unexpectedly, songs. Several candidates have been trying to sing their way into voters' hearts, not least among them the People's Power Party's Samuel Lee.
The 33-year-old information technology engineer kicked off GE2025 with a song adaptation that is getting its moment in the sun.
His is the voice that launched a thousand memes, after he filled in the classic Chinese song A Tiny Bird (1990) by Taiwanese singer Chao Chuan with English lyrics lamenting the struggles faced by Singaporeans in securing a job.
'I look left, look right, look left, look right, for a career path. Is this a request too high?' Mr Lee sang to introduce himself at the PPP's press conference on April 22, in an alteration of the song's original Chinese lyrics, 'I search and search for a warm embrace. Is that too much to ask?'
While it is unclear if h is message resonated with netizens, his version of the song is certainly a hit. An electronic music version of Lee's song, put through an artificial intelligence (AI) software, got over 6,300 likes and 9,600 shares on TikTok, with one commenter jokingly naming it: 'Look Left Look Right - PPP (Owl City remix)'. Owl City is an American electronic music project.
Comedy meme account Yeolo, which has close to 90,000 followers on Instagram, has posted several memes of Lee's clip, with captions like: 'Me asking my boss for a raise,' and 'Me checking LinkedIn at work.'
Mr Lee will be contesting Ang Mo Kio GRC as part of a five-man team, going up against a People's Action Party (PAP) team led by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and a team from the opposition Singapore United Party (SUP).
Other candidates have also attempted to endear themselves to constituents through music.
At a press conference unveiling its slate of candidates contesting Nee Soon GRC, Red Dot United (RDU) secretary-general Ravi Philemon, 56, not only sang the viral K-pop hit Apt. by Blackpink's Rose and American pop star Bruno Mars, but another tune as well in Hokkien, showing off his multilingual skills.
He will lead a five-man team in Nee Soon GRC against a PAP team led by Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.
Another opposition crooner, a prize-winning one at that, is WP's Jimmy Tan, who is part of the party's slate for Tampines GRC. The 53-year-old sales manager sometimes get recognised by residents while walking the ground. Why?
He won the Channel 8 programme Golden Age Talentime in 2023. The Chinese singing contest is only open to those above 50. On the show, Mr Tan showed off his pipes with classic Chinese hits like The Past Can Only Be Reminisced (1970) by Taiwanese veteran You Ya and Cheers To The Past (1988) by Taiwanese singer Chiang Yu-heng.
Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) candidate for Marymount SMC Jeffrey Khoo, 56, tried to woo voters at a party election rally on April 24 with the folk song You're The Only One In My Heart, made famous by Taiwanese singers Liu Wen-cheng and Teresa Teng.
He sang a verse of the song, before addressing Marymount citizens directly and echoing a lyric from the song: 'Marymount residents, I'm Jeffrey Khoo. You're the only one in my heart.'
Certainly, incumbent ruling party PAP has its own singer too in new face Goh Pei Ming, 43, whose team fielded for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights enjoyed a walkover.
Asked by The Straits Times what his favourite army song is, the former Singapore Armed Forces chief of staff sang Purple Light. And his current song on repeat is a Mandopop classic – an anthem about one's unrequited affections, Devotion Love (2002) by Taiwanese singer Sam Lee.
So with a week left till the polls, and if you're looking to get in the mood, here's a playlist of GE2025 'hits':
A Tiny Bird
Apt.
You're The Only One In My Heart
Devotion Love
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