No Minor Scale with The Purple

Symphony
From a visually impaired pianist to a Zhongruan player on the autistic spectrum, LEE ZI
YING discovers that talent comes in many forms.

“It’s okay, It’s nothing. It’s just an ensemble with no audience. Pretend the tickets didn't get sold out or
somehow everybody just couldn't come. There’s nobody, nobody, nobody...” Sakinah repeats under her
breath over and over again like a mantra. She is performing a duet and a solo with ensemble – only two
out of sixteen songs of the concert, but the opening of the concert is already making her a nerve wreck.

“Anytime now…” she hears someone whispering.

“So... sit back and enjoy the magical musical journey of Our Wondrous Earth!” the MC chirps excitedly into
the microphone, cueing the spotlights to illuminate the symphony band behind him.

The audience erupts into warm applause before the sound of string instruments engulfs the theatre at the
National University of Singapore, starting the first song.

After what seemed like eternity, the first three songs ends and it is Sakinah’s turn on stage. She holds
firmly onto the elbow of her guide and quickly makes her way to the piano.

“This is it... Oh my god, this is the moment of truth!” Sakinah thinks to herself, her heart hammering
loudly against her chest in a dizzying cocktail of anxiety and anticipation.

Sakinah takes a deep breath and calms herself down in an attempt to forget her surroundings. Her fingers
run across the cool and familiar surface of the keys, reaching for the keys to the opening line of The
Swan...and begins her performance.

“That was my very first big, big, big show if you can say. [I was] nervous like crazy, nervous like mad!
Because I heard it was quite a full house since it was sold out. So I was really really nervous – like oh my
god!” exclaimed Sakinah over the phone, when I caught up with her two weeks after her first
performance with The Purple Symphony.
The Purple Symphony is a symphony band widely regarded as one of largest inclusive symphony bands in
Singapore that has about two thirds of its members with special needs. It is comprised of five key musical
sections – percussion, plucked strings, bowed strings, winds and choir.

But Siti Sakinah is a 22-year-old musician who stands out from the rest. She is a visually impaired pianist
that only joined The Purple Symphony last September, but has already shown promise with her musical
talents, having being awarded The Purple Symphony Training Award Programme, an award that provides
persons with special needs an opportunity to develop their musical talent and perform in public. Sakinah
was also involved in performing for Our Wondrous Earth, the third annual concert of The Purple
Symphony.

I remember seeing Sakinah for the first time three weeks ago at one of the final rehearsal sessions for Our
Wondrous Earth. She was wearing a white pullover and a bright red hijab, sitting on a plastic chair behind
the piano, waiting for her cue to walk over to the piano bench to start her rehearsal. She seemed like an
everyday, nondescript girl-next-door, that is – until I started talking to her.

“What are your hobbies other than playing the piano?” I asked, curious.

She laughed. “Listening to ghost stories on the radio,” she answered, her face lit with excitement at the
thought of her favourite past time.

“Well then, listening to ghost stories and playing the piano, which do you prefer?” I probed.

“Of course the ghost stories! [Although] piano is fun too,” she laughed, a cheeky grin on her face.

“Because a lot of times, things on TV are not very descriptive, so I don’t understand it. [The radio show]
is my only way to listen [to ghost stories],” she explains.

I was surprised. I did not expect a stranger that I had met less than a minute ago to warm up to me so
quickly and display her bubbly personality in a series of playful answers.

“She is someone that is very positive. She is willing to face challenges,” I remember a spokesperson of the
Central Singapore Community Development Council (Central Singapore CDC) saying to me, highlighting
Sakinah’s positive attitude in face of challenges.
Intrigued, I asked Sakinah for the difficulties that she faced in preparing for Our Wondrous Earth.

“You need to remember all your scores, [because] I don't read real scores...so it’s just listening and
committing it to memory as much as possible,” she replies. She explains that sometimes she finds
difficulty in playing her piece as she cannot rely solely on her memory and has to adapt to the varying
tempo of the orchestra to accurately play each section of her piece.

“[It’s] not just playing with somebody, but playing with a big group of people. But I thought never mind,
I’ll just give it a try, I’m always up for challenges,” she explains with a smile.

People with special needs tend to require a longer time to assimilate into a performance, says Mr Liaw
Hwee Choo, 56, father of a special needs musician performing at the concert.

“For normal people who play in the orchestra, we are able to adapt, we are able to watch the conductor
change the time, change the dynamic of the music. We are able to look at the music score to change our
fingering. But for people who are autistic, they find it difficult to [play to] this ability….so they always
require guidance,” says Mr Liaw, referencing his nineteen-year-old son, Liu Jia’En, who is on the autism
spectrum.

Jia’En’s parents had discovered his interest in music when he was twelve years old, as he frequently
listened and sang along to opera pieces with strong background music on YouTube using his iPad.

In 2016, Jia’En’s parents signed him up for The Purple Symphony to hone his musical abilities and train
him in the Zhongruan. Mr and Mrs Liaw thought that learning a musical instrument and being part of a
concert would inculcate a sense of independence in Jia’En and hope that he would be able to make a
decent living as a licenced street performer in the future.

“It is a training that you need to observe, you need to listen, and you need to coordinate your hands. So
it’s a complicated process for a human being to do so. So that maybe will stimulate his mind,” says Mr
Liaw.

“And in the end, maybe there’s a slight influence [on Jia’En]...he did improve on his interaction with
people. [It] impacted on his listening, interactions and observations of people,” Mr Liaw explains, adding
that the training was able to improve Jia’En’s concentration greatly.

However, Jia’En still has a long way to go to become a fully independent musician, says Mr Liaw.
Currently, Mrs Liaw accompanies Jia’En for all his performances, sitting beside him and cueing the tempo
for each piece. Mr Liaw on the other hand, sits beside Jia’En during most of his performances, playing
the Zhongruan and acting as a reference point to the tempo of the music.

Nevertheless, Mr and Mrs Liaw remain optimistic about their son’s future, as they believe in taking things
slow. Mr Liaw also highlights his hopes that Jia’En would be able to make an impact on others by raising
awareness about people with special needs as a street performer.

“Up to now, I think not many people appreciate the abilities of these group of people. We need people to
put up more publicity and build something special to get the awareness of the public,” says Mr Liaw.

Back to the phone call, I chuckled to the bubbly voice over the phone as Sakinah makes yet another
cheeky comment.

“So how do you find the experience now that it is over?” I ask, smiling at the enthusiasm of her voice.

“Although it is a small ensemble, I was part of The Purple Symphony and that itself is an honour for me.
You know, when you play with ‘normal’ people, everybody is capable...everyday they are at their 100
percent. No issues, no nothing, so everybody can play smoothly and understand everything. But this is
different. When you play with an orchestra with different abilities, it becomes more challenging but yet
rewarding. Especially after each and every performance,” replies Sakinah.

She pauses briefly for a thoughtful moment before continuing.

“And you know what? Until today, I still can’t get over the performance...Until now, I still listen to the
songs and reminisce it. It’s been two weeks already okay, but I still can’t get over it...It meant a lot to me
to perform with them. Personally, if I could do it again, I would. The experience, I just cannot buy with
money. I will never exchange it for anything, I will never sell it for anything because it is experiences like
this that makes you aware and accommodate the differences [of people with special needs] so that
together, we can make music you know?” she adds pensively.
Part 1: Photos & Captions

Photo by Lee Zi Ying

Sakinah often practices with the help of a volunteer beside her to help cue her and make sure she
is on the right tempo.

Photo by Lee Zi Ying

Our Wonderous Earth holds a mass rehearsal at Path Light School every Saturday.
Photo by Lee Zi Ying
Liu Jia’En (centre) holds his Zhongruan and poses with his parents, Mr Liaw Hwee Choo (left)
and Mrs Liaw Yock Moy (right).

Photo by Central Singapore CDC

Sakinah often listens to YouTube videos with the same musical variation as her performance to
familiarise herself with her pieces.
Photo by Central Singapore CDC
Jia’En plays the Zhongruan with the help of his mother’s cues and with reference to his father’s
playing beside him.

Photo by Central Singapore CDC

The Purple Symphony poses for a photograph on stage after their performance at the National
University of Singapore.
Part 2: Sidebar

Upcoming Events
The Purple Symphony will be performing for the Purple Parade on 27 October, so keep a look
out for them!