SINGAPORE – MediaCorp unveiled the music video for These Are The Days, the winning entry from SG50: The Gift Of Song, in a special ceremony on this afternoon (July 14). The Gift Of Song is a songwriting competition organised by MediaCorp to celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday.

With music and lyrics by restaurateur Lee Chin Sin, who won the competition, the music video for These Are The Days features MediaCorp’s talent show winners Farisha Ishak, Shabir, Sufie Rashid and Alfred Sim as well as actress Julie Tan, singer Tay Kewei, instrumental band The Lorong Boys and the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir. The four-minute music video also features special appearances by members of the Singapore Police Force and YMCA Deaf Generation, Singapore athletes and students of Pei Chun Public School and Methodist Girls’ School. The event was attended by Minister for Communications and Information, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, who launched the video, along with Shaun Seow, CEO of MediaCorp, in a symbolic ceremony.

“The first video when I heard Farisha singing the song, it was already very satisfying to me,” said the songwriter Lee. “Ultimately I just hope people when they hear they song they find the message something they can relate to. I wanted it to be something positive, something people can relate to. When you write a song, you just hope someone wants to sing it. And now this video is so big and epic. Everyone is in there! Actually I can’t think of anyone who isn’t in there - except me!”

The music video will air on MediaCorp’s television channels, Out-Of-Home (OOH) screens and over-the-top service Toggle, while the song will be played across MediaCorp’s radio stations.

Chang Long Jong, deputy chief executive officer, MediaCorp said the production of the music video “was the climax to the year-long journey of The Gift of Song”. “It has truly been an honour for MediaCorp, the judges, musicians and performers to come together with Singaporeans for this SG50 project. This mega music video is not just a gift to Singapore from MediaCorp but from everyone involved in the project,” he said, adding that he hoped These Are The Days “will strike a chord among Singaporeans and that everyone will sing along to it”.

“Now, with the launch we are hoping that through our multi-media platforms, through social media, we are able to reach out to more Singaporeans. Our hope and desire is that the song will resonate. Beyond that we want to come up with their own versions of the song. They can have their own group or solo performance, just to become a part of this whole celebration of SG50,” Chang added.

SG50: The Gift Of Song received close to 1,000 entries within a six-week submission period last year. More than 65,000 votes were cast in total for the three finalists’ songs during the seven-week voting period, which began on Jan 8. The other two songs are Being Here, written by songwriting duo Dennis Ng and Jared Chan; and We Are Stars by graphic designer Andrew Lee. The finalists were chosen by a panel of judges that included Bernard Lim, Head, Family Segment, Customer Group, MediaCorp; musicians Jeremy Monteiro and Dick Lee; composer Sydney Tan; Georgina Chang, MediaCorp’s vice president for the Celebrities Network; and Mdm Zakiah A Halim, senior vice-president, Malay broadcast division at MediaCorp.