Man In Baju Melayu Sings Classic Hokkien Song “Strive To Win” (爱拼才会赢)
Singaporeans know a good singer when they hear one. But no one would have expected to find a talented singer at a wedding held beneath a HDB block.
A Sarawak man by the name of Zhang Hui Qiang (张辉强) uploaded a 56-sec clip onto Facebook, featuring a man dressed in Baju Melayu singing the classic Hokkien song “Strive To Win” (爱拼才会赢) at a Malay wedding.
You can watch the video in full here. We also break it down for you after the jump.
Man dazzles at Malay wedding
At the start of the video, a man in a golden Baju Melayu complete with a black songkok can be seen holding onto a mic as he waits for his musical cue to begin.
From the surroundings, it seems that the video was taken at a Malay wedding beneath a HDB block.
As the song begins, the man starts the song off with a certain bravado that seems to suggest he’s a seasoned singer.
The high notes are clearly not a problem for him as he seems to overcome them with relative ease.
The man even stopped briefly in front of the camera to show off his vocal talents.
A father and daughter duo nearby was clearly captivated by the man’s singing and can be seen staring in awe.
At the 30-sec mark of the video, a lady can be heard commenting about a man at the wedding who appears bewildered.
In her words,
That Chinese guy at the back looks confused on whether this is a Malay or Chinese wedding.
Truth be told, we would be too!
Classic Hokkien tune
In case you’re wondering, the OG version of the song was sung by veteran Hokkien singer Ye Qi Tian (叶启田).
Those who grew up in the early 1990s may feel sentimental hearing the song.
Here’s an English translation of the song lyrics:
Please represent Singapore
Even though we’re unable to ascertain the man’s ethnicity, we are nevertheless taken aback by his extraordinary singing skills.
We look forward to seeing you rep Singapore in the next season of Sound Of My Dreams, or even making an appearance at NDP 2019.
Featured image from Facebook and Facebook.
