Going against the government was probably the furthest thing from their minds when these four NUS students signed up to be part of the Singaporean inception of the 50-strong Complaints Choir late last year.

Imagine their shock when members of the choir were informed by the Media Development Authority on Jan. 25 that their public performance license did not permit its six foreign members to perform the original songs that contained lyrics complaining about aspects of life in Singapore.

And this was the night just before their first scheduled performance as part of the recently concluded M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, organised by local theatre group The Necessary Stage.

“It would mean that we would be performing with a choir that’s without a conductor, without the participation of the people who initiated the whole project, and it wasn’t something we were prepared to do,” said third-year law student Nurul Aziah Hussin, who is also a member of the Complaints Choir.  

Eventually the choir was granted permission to perform privately at the Old Parliament House debating chamber.  

“I was talking to the founders and they actually never meant for it to be subversive,” said another Complaints Choir member, Nur Shafiza Shafie, a third-year NUS undergraduate student majoring in sociology.

“Complaining doesn’t have to be a negative action,” said Nurul Aziah.

“It’s just a way for ordinary people to express things that happen in their daily lives and it’s meant to be light-hearted and funny and non-judgemental,” she said.  

The Complaints Choir is an initiative where volunteers from a community come together to air common complaints in the form of lyrical public performances. It started in Finland and has since seen performances in cities such as Helsinki and Birmingham.

The Campus Observer understands from the students that there had initially been no problems with securing a permit from MDA to perform in public.

In fact, all 1000 of the complaints that the choir members had come up with were passed, even though only about 30 were used in the actual song.

It was only when the choir was trying to appeal to allow its Malaysian conductor to perform at the Speakers’ Corner that the choir’s foreign membership came under greater scrutiny.

“They did not set the conditions clearly (at first),” Nur Shafiza said.  

“It just didn’t seem like there was a real reason, or at least, not a reason that we thought was worth contemplating...Until now we still don’t really understand why the MDA would do such a thing,” said Nurul Aziah.

This lack of transparency is a point that has been similarly lamented by Hong Xinyi, a Straits Times journalist in a Feb. 1 article.

“The licensing problems encountered highlight both the positive aspects (conscientious caution) and the negative aspects (a lack of transparency) of the regulation system,” she said.

Hong also called on the authorities to implement clear deadlines and for licensing bodies to issue a public statement each time a show is denied a license.

In another Straits Times article published Feb. 2, MDA “indicated that it made clear from the outset that no foreigners could participate in the public performance.”

Amy Tsang, MDA’s deputy director for arts and licensing also said the licensing application for the Complaints Choir was made shorter than the stipulated six weeks in advance of the hosting of an event.

She said MDA accepted the application and sought to process it despite only receiving the full application from the organiser on Jan. 17.

“While we recognise this is an arts entertainment event, it is nevertheless an exposition about Singapore’s domestic situation,” Tsang added.

She also said MDA only conditionally approved the application, on the condition that only Singapore citizens participate in the performance, which was originally intended as a public performance.

The choir was eventually allowed to proceed because it was turned into an invitation-only, private event, for which a license is not required.

“As a sovereign nation, it is in Singapore’s public interest to ensure that its domestic politics is for Singaporeans only,” she said.

Nur Shafiza likened the rationale that MDA gave to the People’s Action Party (PAP)’s defensiveness when faced by criticism by foreign media.

“We as a choir felt that these people contribute to our economy...if you don’t want foreigners in your country, you might as well not have that whole foreign talent policy,” she said.

“So for us, it was quite a ludicrous idea that we could not include foreigners, when foreigners are the ones building your country, they’re the ones taking care of your kids, and the ones creating employment for us here.”

And while Singapore has never exactly been painted as a bastion of “free speech” internationally, it seems to be doing itself no favours with this latest development.

All the talk about watering the cultural desert and opening up seem rather hollow now, considering the fact that the Complaints Choir was part of a festival that is supposed to be a showcase of “socially-engaged” works.  

“I think the whole thing is ridiculous because it is such a knee-jerk overreaction to something that is essentially harmless,” said first-year law student, Indulekshmi Rajeswari.

The decision to bar not only foreigners, but permanent residents as well, from singing in the complaints choir could prove costly for Singapore.

Indulekshmi, who is a foreign student, took issue with the police’s rationale that foreigners should not be commenting on domestic affairs.

“Obviously I am not very happy at the fact that we are invited to contribute to the economy and birth rate, but are told to shut up about the politics that affects us too.”

With a low birth rate and ageing population, Singapore, a country that depends enormously on foreign talent could do better to make its non-citizens feel more welcome, as well as ensuring that its permanent residents feel a sense of belonging in Singapore society.  

“It doesn’t exactly inspire us to grow roots into this society,” said Indulekshmi.

Perhaps we can take heart that despite the drama and controversy clouding the choir’s effort, the student participants did get something positive out of being a part of it.

“It was nice that the entire choir decided to stick together...it was as much (the non-Singaporeans’) project as it was ours,” said Nurul Aziah.