Singaporean student bridges gaps in Chinese orchestra

Muhammad Iman Mohamed Irfan understands only the most basic of Mandarin words — like lian (practice) and zhun bei (get ready) — but he has already performed solo parts on stage with a Chinese orchestra.

The 18-year-old is the only non-Chinese member of Temasek Polytechnic Chinese Orchestra in Singapore and the only bamboo flute, or dizi, player in the current cohort.

He is helped by his conductor, who is used to communicating in Mandarin but makes an effort to repeat his instructions in English for Iman.

When in doubt, Iman turns to his friends in the orchestra, who are "more than happy to help", as well as the Chinese dictionary app Pleco. He picked up the language after joining the orchestra as a cocurricular activity, or CCA, in 2024, his first year at the polytechnic.

His passion for Chinese music began at the age of 12, when he stumbled upon a Chinese orchestra performance of Bai Niao Chao Feng (A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix) on YouTube.

"After I watched it, I really fell in love with the style, so I started listening to more and more (Chinese music)," he recalled.

By his upper secondary years, he had saved up enough money to buy his first dizi for $70. Subsequently, he added a $230 double-reeded horn, or suona, and a $100 vertical flute, or xiao, to his collection of wind instruments.

By watching videos, Iman taught himself the three instruments.

"I'm one of the few people I know who really enjoys traditional Chinese music. (My friends and family) knew about my passion for music and supported me all the way, even though it was something different for them."

His family always cheers him on by attending his performances, said Iman, who is starting the second year of his chemical engineering course in April.

When he entered Temasek Polytechnic, Iman auditioned for a spot in the Chinese orchestra. After playing the three wind instruments, along with other orchestra instruments, he was assigned to the woodwind section.

Second-year student Walter Yeo Boon Kai, 19, who is also in the woodwind section, was impressed by Iman when they first met. "I asked him what he knew about Chinese culture and how much he had learned, and I was very surprised," Yeo said.

Despite Iman's background in music, he admitted the transition from playing in a concert band to a Chinese orchestra was challenging.

In addition to the language barrier, he said that "everything is different — the instruments, the (music) genres, and my conductors' personal ways of teaching".

To catch up, Iman often sought help from them and practiced difficult sections of the music repeatedly to improve his technique.

The efforts have paid off — he played multiple solo parts during the orchestra's performances, one of which was the Chinese orchestra's annual concert in February.

His passion for traditional Chinese music has led him to explore Chinese opera and Chinese tea, in what was a "natural segue" for him.

"My dream is to join a professional Chinese orchestra in future, but even if that doesn't work out, Chinese music will still be my passion."

The Straits Times, Singapore