Most youths today have little to no ability in communicating in their native dialects, much less writing a song in dialect. CATCH explores how songwriting has connected Laura Low Wen Pei to her ancestral roots.
Written & illustrated by Hayley Foong | Photos courtesy of Laura Low Wen Pei
Here's a question for those with a native dialect: How well do you know it?
Like most Singaporean Chinese youths, Laura Low Wen Pei, a student studying Fine Arts in the University of New South Wales, is not very familiar with her dialect, Hokkien. Despite this, the 19-year-old, who goes by Wen Pei (雯佩) in her music endeavours, is actually a Hokkien songwriter signed with Seed Music.
Growing up, Wen Pei’s parents often played Chinese songs. In turn, she developed a sense of love and intimacy towards Chinese music and this soon became the bridge between her and her roots.
How it all started
Wen Pei began writing poems, as a means to express herself, which gradually developed into songs. Her writings were all done in Chinese, providing her with a deeper sense of connection to her roots.
She cites local celebrities Tanya Chua and Rebecca Lim, who were alumni of her school, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, as her biggest infIuences. “I had an aspiration to make my school proud, like they did.”
In 2018, Wen Pei participated in her school’s Chinese songwriting competition, winning first place and even filming a music video for it.
Since then, she has released more than 38 songs on Spotify, in both Chinese and Hokkien. Her latest Hokkien song ‘亲人’, which translates to ‘a closed one’, was a song dedicated to her late grandfather.
Writing her roots
Wen Pei and her Late grandfather
Hokkien was her grandfather’s first language, coming from the Fujian Province in China.
“I don’t have many memories of him because he passed away when I was five, but he left my grandma with many handwritten letters which really provided me with comfort during difficult times.” Wen Pei said.
She then realised that she could write songs in Hokkien to reconnect with her grandfather and roots.
However, she found that writing lyrics in Hokkien was much harder than writing in Chinese.
Wen Pei took it upon herself to research more on the dialect and even made her own Hokkien dictionary by listening closely to Taiwanese Hokkien songs.
When asked to describe the process of writing a Hokkien song, she said that it was “quite abstract”.
“Writing Hokkien songs is more freestyle and in the moment, compared to writing Chinese songs.”
“I just get the main words, concept and theme, then I play some chords on the guitar and find what feels right at that moment,” she said.
Her mother has also played a big part in her music by helping to proofread her Hokkien lyrics.
Then, Now and In the Future
“I started living more consciously and hence writing more consciously and purposefully.”
As wholesome as her story sounds, Wen Pei emphasised that the journey was not all smooth sailing.
She used to obsessively listen to sentimental Chinese songs, which led to her emotions being affected by the music.
At one of her lowest points, she threw herself into an “obsessive-hustle-consuming” state of writing at least one song a day. It was not until she found other genres of Chinese songs, like R&B and traditional songs, that this vicious cycle was stopped.
“I started living more consciously and hence writing more consciously and purposefully,” she said.
Currently, Wen Pei has been writing in preparation for the release of her Hokkien mini album. She also made a promise to herself to take up dialect classes with her friend.
“Knowing the language my ancestors used to speak gives me a sense of belonging and makes me feel more grounded. I mean, it’s called roots for a reason.”