Having witnessed the many years of National Day Parade, the theme song is of course sung by local singers. Many singers have had the honour to be chosen to sing the theme song for the year. In fact, there are several songs which stood out more than the singers themselves. For example, most people would have a deep impression of songs like Stand Up For Singapore, Count On Me Singapore and One People, One Nation, One Singapore. How many of us actually know who sung these songs? However, the songs themselves resonate in our minds, being exposed to such songs since young. Such songs have become classics for National Day songs and are epitomes of National Day songs.

The gradual transition over the years have seen the difference in people's impressions of the National Day songs. The song "Home" by Kit Chan appears to be the first song 0f many to come that gave people a deep impression of both the songs and the perfoming artistes. Thereafter, many singers were handpicked to perform the theme song for the year. To them, it is an honour to be able to perform for the whole nation on the nation's birthday. In the past few years, the artistes chosen, like Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua and JJ Lin, are those who made it big overseas in the Taiwanese and Chinese Mandopop markets. Nowadays, many Singaporean singers choose to venture into overseas markets before returning back to their homeland. We have seen many artistes making it big in the Mandopop markets and their return to homeland being a glorious one.

Moving on, there are several theme songs that involved people from different parts of the society. In 2004, choirs from Tanjong Katong Girls' School and Tampines Primary School contributed to the performance of the theme song, alongside Kit Chan and JJ Lin. In 2007, one of the songs, "Will You", was performed by 8 Singaporean singers from different music genres.

Personally, I enjoy listening to music from Stefanie Sun and singers like her and Tanya have enjoyed success in the Mandopop market. However, it appears that local singers are having a hard time entering the English music scene. For example, the acapella band Budak Pantai has been established for about 15 years already. However, they do not achieve tremendous amount of fame. Some attribute it to the music genre, after drawing parallels between them and another local band, Electrico. Electrico, established as a indie band, have had more success.

The lastest success story of a local singer is finally not one from the Mandopop market. In fact, as a surprise to many, it came from the Japanese market. Most Singaporeans are more familiar with the JPop scene in Japan. Many did not know about the immense success of this Bossa Nova singer, Olivia Ong, until she performed the opening song for the big television hit last year, The Little Nyonya. Being signed to a Japanese recording company at the young age of 15, she achieved success there with her covers of classic jazz songs. Singaporeans tend to take pride in singers who have made it big abroad and come back to their homeland, holding their heads up high. However, I feel it is also time to appreciate the efforts of those working hard at home, sharing their creations with us. I am not saying that those artistes striving overseas are not trying their best. However, it is only fair that we give credit for all local artistes who are contributing to the development of local music, regardless of the genre.

In a multi-cultural society, we are able to appreciate music from many genres and in many languages. We can see that with the government's relaxation on rules with regards to dialects, many are enjoying the Hokkien songs from Taiwanese dramas. As for the younger generation, a myriad of genres and languages satisfy their palate. There are many who indulge in music from other Asian cultures, with examples including Kpop and Jpop. Of course, the American market is very huge and has its influences on us too. Pop, rock, indie and many genres included. Amongst all these, it becomes pivotal that we appreciate local talent and understand their arduous efforts to make our nation proud.