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GEK1053/GEH1006 CHINESE MUSIC, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

AY2017-2018 Semester 2
Guidelines for Individual Final Project

Namewee (黄明志) is a Malaysian singer-songwriter and filmmaker who has attracted

controversy in his home country due to his satirical songs, but has recently made a
name in the Chinese pop music scene through his collaboration with prominent
Chinese pop artistes. For this final project, each student is required to select one of the
following songs by Namewee and write an essay based on their analysis of the song:

We Are Nothing 四大皆空 (Mandarin / English)

https://youtu.be/Kt8Um_uCvJI

Good Brother! 咱是好兄弟 (Hokkien)

https://youtu.be/3LL4w32Xzgk

Thai Love Song 泰国情哥 (Mixed)

https://youtu.be/SwZMS-ISbH4

High Pitched 飙高音 (Mandarin)

https://youtu.be/GXLBNJUOU5w

Stranger in the North 漂向北方 (Mandarin)

https://youtu.be/qIF8xvSA0Gw

Funny Action! 搞笑快行动 (Mixed)

https://youtu.be/f0ZDypwI1Gc

Pretty Hurts 美人罪 (Mandarin)

https://youtu.be/oLlVBNLSSLQ

Preparation before analysis (to help you in interpreting the selected song)

a. Read the following papers and search for further information online (eg. news
articles), to understand more about the background of Namewee.

Koh, K. W. (2008). A Chinese Malaysian in Taiwan: Negarakuku and a Song of Exile

in the Diaspora. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 8(1), 50-79.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/doi/10.1111/j.1754-
9469.2008.00003.x/epdf

Koh, K. W. (2015). Nation, diaspora and the world: Namewee and Malaysian popular
culture. In D. P. S. Goh (Ed.), Worlding Multiculturalisms: The politics of inter-
Asian dwelling (pp. 35-54). Oxon, UK: Routledge.

b. Go through some of Namewee’s songs in his Youtube channel, from his

earlier works to his more recent ones, to have a general idea of his musical
style.
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c. If the song you have selected belongs to a particular album, take a look at the
Youtube videos of the other songs in the same album.

What to include in the essay

 Brief introduction of the song

- When was the song first released?
- Who are the composer, lyricist and singer(s)? Did Namewee
collaborate with any other singers or musicians in this song? If yes,
give a brief introduction about his collaborator(s). What do you think
Namewee is trying to achieve through the collaboration?
- Was the song used in the soundtrack of any film, TV drama etc? Or
was there any particular incident / context that motivated the writing of
the song?
- Is the song part of a particular album? If yes, how does it relate to the
overall theme of the album?

 Musical style of the song

- Discuss the musical style of the song and vocal style of the singer(s).
Eg. Does the song mix different genres together?
- Are there any particular instruments that are highlighted in the
arrangement? If yes, what mood and emotions do the instruments
evoke?

 Lyrics and music video

- What language(s) are the lyrics in? Do you think the inclusion and
exclusion of particular language(s) carry any meaning?
- Give a summary of the lyrics.
- Go through the music video – does the video tell a story? Are the
visual elements in the video connected to the lyrics of the song?
- From the song lyrics and the visuals in the music video, what are the
key ideas / messages that Namewee is trying to convey? Does the song
involve a critique of society, or does it express Namewee’s personal
experiences?

 Reflections
- What is your overall impression of the song as a listener?
- Through examining the musical qualities, lyrics and music video of the
song, do you think Namewee is using this song to bring out certain
issues related to any of the following: (a) language; (b) culture; (c)
identity; (d) politics? How can you tell?

Format of the project report

 The length of your essay should be 1500 - 1800 words (excluding references
and appendices).
 All papers should be word-processed, size 12 font, double-spaced, and have 1”
margins. At the top of the first page of your essay, include your full name as
per student card, course code, and give an appropriate title for your essay. Do
not use a separate “cover page”.
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 You must cite all your sources of ideas and information in the main text of
your essay, and provide a list of references at the end of your essay. Please
adhere to the American Psychological Association (APA) style for the in-text
citation and references for your essay.
 For more information on how to use the APA citation style, please refer to the
following link: http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/APA6th
 As this is a course that is taught in English, the essay must be written in
English. Students are not allowed to submit an essay written in Chinese. You
may include Chinese characters for the names of songs, artistes, and
specialised Chinese terms in brackets, to clarify names or terms that have been
translated into English or rendered in pinyin.
 You may consult Chinese sources (eg. books, newspaper articles etc.) when
writing your essay, but they need to be cited properly in the text and the
reference list. For the citation formats of non-English sources and translated
materials in your references, please refer to the APA style guide.

Submission deadline and procedure

 The project report takes up 40% of the overall course grade.

 Print your project report on double-sided pages and staple the pages of your
essay securely before submission.
 The project report is due 26 March 2018 (Week 10, Monday) and will be
collected during the lecture (in hard copy). You should come to the lecture
with the project report ready for submission.
 Marks will be deducted for late submission. You are advised to factor in ample
time for formatting and printing your essay, before arriving at the lecture.

Evaluation of the project

When grading the final project, the instructor will be judging the quality of your work
in terms of the following areas:

 Interpretation of the song Popular music texts are polysemic, i.e. they can
have multiple meanings. So there isn’t one single correct interpretation of a
song. But your project will be judged on how well you can convince the reader
with a reasonable and meaningful interpretation and whether you are able
to support your interpretation with appropriate references to specific parts of
the lyrics, musical / vocal elements of the song, visuals in the music video etc.
 You will also be assessed on whether your analysis can make connection with
material learnt in the course, as well as academic literature on relevant topics /
issues discussed, such as citing relevant academic writings about Namewee,
about culture, identity, Malaysian society etc. It is therefore important to read
the two assigned readings for the project, and also look up additional
information that will help you in writing a meaningful analysis.
 Organisation of ideas The ideas in your essay should be well-organised such
that the essay will flow well for a reader to understand, with the assumption
that the reader has little prior knowledge of Namewee or his songs. You don’t
have to follow the order of the guiding questions, or “answer” them in a rigid
manner. The questions are meant to set you thinking in terms of what to look
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out for in your analysis. Students are expected to exercise their own discretion
in how to arrange material in your essay and present them in the best way
possible for readers to comprehend. If an essay has ideas that are all jumbled
up, it will affect the grade of the project, for instance a student mentions Idea
X and then suddenly jumps to Point Z without explaining X adequately.
 Correct citation style If you are drawing on ideas or information from various
sources, make sure you credit them properly in the essay using the APA style.
Check to make sure in-text citations correspond with the reference list. Marks
will be deducted for errors in citation, for instance citing the book editor’s
name instead of the book chapter’s author (in an edited volume), giving only
an URL in the reference list without any other publication information etc.
 Credibility of sources cited If the sources of ideas and information used in
the essay are not credible, it will also affect the grade of the project. For
example, having a reference list of only online sources that are not credible,
such as. Wikipedia entries, undergraduate essays from another university etc.