Bringing local music to everyday spaces through NAC and FairPrice Group partnership

Singapore: A Distinctive City of the Arts

1. A very good afternoon to all of you. It is a pleasure to be here in Clarke Quay, an entertainment district that has added much to Singapore’s distinctiveness as a city. Beyond a bustling riverside dock, Clarke Quay is a reminder that spaces can evolve and still retain their history and character.

2. Being a distinctive city takes more than just architecture and historic preservation. It is also about showcasing creativity, infusing local character and programming exciting cultural events. Building and bringing out this character is what makes a city unique. It allows people to connect to places emotionally, and identify with it as home.

3. Today’s collaboration is another step in shaping our distinctive city through the arts, by bringing local music into one of the most familiar spaces in Singaporean life: the FairPrice supermarket.

Bringing the arts closer to people

4. In MCCY and NAC, we recognise that the arts have a powerful role to play in shaping that distinctive character. When our artists draw from their lived experiences in our city, they give form to something that is uniquely ours, uniquely Singaporean.

5. We have been working to bring the arts closer to people’s everyday lives – extending the arts outside of theatres and galleries into spaces where Singaporeans gather, commute, and connect.

6. This would not have been possible without the strong support of our partners, like FairPrice Group. Our partners allow us to extend our reach to many more Singaporeans and visitors. For example:

   1. We have partnered with SMRT to launch Poems On The MRT. For a year, excerpts of poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil written by our local writers, are displayed in trains throughout SMRT’s train network, allowing millions to experience poetry on their daily commute.

   2. Earlier this year, NAC also signed an MOU with Changi Airport Group. Over the next three years, visitors passing through one of the world's most celebrated airports will be greeted with a rich tapestry of Singaporean arts experiences — interactive poetry programmes and displays, live performances by our musicians, and immersive visual arts installations during Singapore Art Week. For the millions of travellers who pass through Changi each year, this is their first or last impression of Singapore. And we want that impression to be one of a city that is creative, confident, and culturally active.

Celebrating Singaporean Music

7. In 2023, NAC launched I Play SG Music with a simple but powerful idea; that is to bring local music to where Singaporeans already are. Since then, we have programmed more than 250 local artists, steadily expanding our reach to venues like Marina Bay Sands and Changi Airport — the latter made possible through the MOU we signed earlier this year.

8. Today's partnership with FairPrice Group represents the next exciting step in that journey. With local music now playing across more than 150 FairPrice stores, we are activating cultural touchpoints that Singaporeans across generations visit as part of their weekly family routines. Whether you are doing your grocery run on a Sunday morning or picking up essentials after work, you will find yourself accompanied by the sounds of Singapore — music spanning multiple genres and languages, capturing the full flavour of our multiculturalism. It is my hope that these moments, small as they are, give voice — quite literally voice — to a shared Singaporean identity.

9. For our local music artists, platforms like this matter. Every new venue is a new audience, and every listener gained is another step towards building a sustainable career in the arts here at home.

   1. For example, Sherman Zhuo, who will be performing later, is a Mandopop singer-songwriter who first gained recognition as a semi-finalist on SPOP Sing! 2018, and he has built a strong regional following ever since. He most recently had his original song〈以後〉covered by renowned Taiwanese singer Crowd Lu, Lu Kuang-chung, for his 2025 album, which marks a major regional songwriting breakthrough. So congrats to Sherman.

   2. And in the audience, we have bilingual hip-hop artist ABANGSAPAU. His raw songs, drawing on experiences from his life and the lives of the people around him, have garnered him fans all over Southeast Asia. Congratulations too.

10. Initiatives like this to bring music to a casual listener do wonders. I went through my Spotify to look for Sherman’s and ABANGSAPAU’s songs. It was the first time I’ve heard their songs, and they are songs that I would add to my playlist. I hope that everyone can look out for them as well and support our local artists.

Conclusion

11. In closing, I would like to express my appreciation to NAC, FairPrice Group, and all the musicians and industry partners who have worked together to bring the arts into our supermarkets. Your dedication and collaborative efforts are bringing the arts closer to thousands every day.

12. The vision we are working towards is a simple but meaningful one: that a Singaporean going about our island — whether picking up groceries, catching the MRT, checking in at Changi Airport — might hear a song, read a poem, or encounter a piece of art that stops them for a moment and reminds them of who they are and what they share with the person beside them. That is what the arts does. And that is what we are building together.

13. So look forward to Sherman Zhuo's performance shortly, and I hope it gives all of us a taste of the Singapore sound that will soon be accompanying shoppers all around Singapore. Thank you.