By now, many of you would have caught wind of the latest symphonic addition to our daily commutes: the delightful train chimes that made their debut just two months ago on February 14, 2024. The brainchild of these chimes is none other than the non-profit Singaporean Chinese music company, The Teng Company, conceptualised and researched by their co-founder and creative director Dr. Samuel Wong, and composed and arranged by Teng's composer-in-residence Chow Jun Yi.
As May approaches, The Teng Company celebrates an impressive 20-year journey. Recognised as a prominent arts powerhouse in Singapore, they are all about using music for good. Their mission? Breaking barriers in Chinese music, igniting creativity, empowering the handicapped, and advocating for lifelong learning. Their spirit shines through collaborations, such as partnering with music therapists for the uplifting ‘Teng Gives Back’ initiative and spreading joy through the transformative magic of music.
This collaboration with SMRT stands out as one of their most notable ventures yet. We sat down with co-founder Dr. Samuel Wong and his partner-in-crime, Uncle Song, to delve into the journey behind bringing this project to life.
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How it all started
I told SMRT that I’m willing to do this provided the project will be able to help the visually handicapped and people who rely on auditory sensors to travel with dignity.
“In 2017, SMRT approached The Teng Company to see if we could produce some music to release anxiety and stress. But at that time, Teng did not have such a product. Fast forward to 2023, we created a suitable product for that request called Music For Mindfulness that uses binaural beats technology. I then went to SMRT with this new product and asked if they wanted to use it but instead, they said they were looking to create train chimes now and asked if I would be interested in such a project. After a few days of thinking, I told SMRT that I’m willing to do this provided the project will be able to help the visually handicapped and people who rely on auditory sensors to travel with dignity,” Dr Samuel Wong explains.
The entire process took The Teng Company half a year to accomplish. However, he emphasised that it was not a breezy one. “From inception to its research, it took about 6 months – a very frenzied 6 months because the research process was very thorough,” he highlights.
Chan Mali Chan existed before I was even alive and after I die, Chan Mali Chan will still continue to exist.
77 MRT stations are now actively using the chimes, however, only three folk songs were used as references. The North-South line uses San Lun Che, the Circle Line uses Chan Mali Chan, and the East-West Line uses Singai Naadu. “Why I chose folk songs was because they have an inherent life in them. Chan Mali Chan existed before I was even alive and after I die, Chan Mali Chan will still continue to exist. For us to create something (the MRT chimes) that is destined to last a long time, we need source materials that have withstood the test of time, and in this case, folk songs have. We may look down on them and say these are kiddish songs, but from our generation to the next, they will always be singing these songs,” he explains.
“These folk songs are usually only played during National Day but now we can hear them frequently when taking the train, it really brightens my mood,” Uncle Song adds.
And here’s an Easter egg: “The chimes can actually be played simultaneously to form a song, because I created the chimes in such a way that they form anagrams with each other. This means that despite having two trains approach one station at the same time, the chimes from both sides can still be coherent with each other. It doesn’t matter which arrives first or later, at any point of time the chimes clash, they will definitely be able to come together to form a song. And because of this, I do feel it is a bit more ingenious than the ones in Japan and Korea (laughs),” he shares.
Seeking second ears
And then I realised that the visually handicapped listen to sounds differently from the visually abled.
Throughout the entire process, Dr. Samuel reached out to his friend Uncle Song, who is visually handicapped, to borrow his ears. “Uncle Song and I are very good friends, we have known each other for over 10 years now and he is actually my tui na masseur. I asked him if he was able to work with me on this project because I think people who are visually abled are always biased, so I wanted to borrow Uncle Song’s ears. And then I realised that the visually handicapped listen to sounds differently from the visually abled. Through our research, I realised that the visually handicapped look out for polarities and disparities in sound,” he says.
Of course, Uncle Song wasn't the sole individual he borrowed ears from. “We created five prototypes and took it to focus groups with visually handicapped individuals made up of races and genders. They eventually chose two. I also took the five prototypes to my university students at Buffalo SIM with 100 students as a sample size and they too had chosen the same two chimes as the visually handicapped individuals,” he says.
The debut
In November 2023, SMRT eventually rolled the chimes out as a trial. “The chimes then took off and grew viral on TikTok and social media in general. That's also when SMRT released the statement that we (Teng) created it and I revealed my entire research process. And after a three-month trial to test out the chimes, they rolled it out to the other stations,” he says.
Apart from the chimes you hear in the platform, there are also four other chimes that are created for the in-train cabins. “There’s one that signals going into a normal station, another for when you go into an interchange station, one for when the door closes, and the last one for when the train goes into the terminal station,” he explains.
This really helps people like us because when we hear the music, we know that the train is reaching and that will prompt us to walk faster.
In addition to receiving numerous positive responses from daily commuters, the primary focus was on gathering feedback from the visually impaired community, who constituted the true target audience. Uncle Song explains that as a visually handicapped person, the train chimes have indeed helped him and people of the same need a great deal. “When this music was released, there were a few visually handicapped people telling me it was really well done. This really helps people like us because when we hear the music, we know that the train is reaching and that will prompt us to walk faster. We totally cannot see, so we solely depend on our ears,” Uncle Song adds.
Looking back
Because Teng’s mission at the end of the day is to use music for the purpose of good.
Today, commuters get to savour this added dose of joy during their daily journeys. Dr Samuel reflects on the motivation behind this project, “When I was embarking on such a project, the first thing I did was to ask the visually handicapped community, ‘How do I do something that works best for you? How do I create something using my skills and knowledge in music to help society solve society’s problems?’”
Ultimately, this goal coincides with The Teng Company's mission. “Because Teng’s mission at the end of the day is to use music for the purpose of good. If we are able to use our skills to help a community to travel with more dignity, find a way to make Singapore a more gracious society using music and ultimately bring joy to some people’s day, why not?”
Keep your ears peeled the next time you’re travelling on the North-South line, the Circle Line and the East-West Line.
