From Folk Song to Anthem: The Story of 'This Little Light of Mine'
Audio Engineer & Video Producer
As an audio engineer, Neil holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours in Recording Arts and
Sciences from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM), National University of Singapore (NUS). Neil was awarded the full Yong Siew Toh Scholarship in 2011 to pursue his degree and continues to work closely with the conservatory in recording concerts, recording and facilitating orientation programmes, creating videos, and with upcoming plans of collaboration with the professors and students.
Worshipping christ
across cultures
Transcultural worship
I believe worship music transcends cultural and stylistic borders.
I hope to share a transcultural approach to Christian worship music, where believers can freely worship God while embracing the beautiful diversity of musical cultures around the world.
Spirituals
The Spirituals
The spirituals are a rich body of African American folksong that was born out of the lived experiences of enslaved individuals.
These songs were mostly created during the transatlantic slave trade from the 16th to 19th century.
A unifying characteristic of African-American spirituals is their dual emphasis on both inner faith and outward action. These songs, born out of the collective lived experiences of enslaved individuals, give us the privilege of sympathising, empathising and even living vicariously their emotions and ambitions.
Enslaved Africans were victims of some of the most brutal forms of oppression, injustice and suffering imaginable. Despite this, the spirituals not only express pain and suffering but also hope and joy in the saving grace of Christ, alongside calls to actively serve one another in love.
We have much to learn from the wisdom of the spirituals. As we sing and appreciate them, perhaps we too will be refined inwardly with the power of the gospel and outwardly toward greater love and action for the poor and oppressed in our midst today.
Scripture songs
As we seek to extend grace and love to our neighbours, it must be accompanied with truth and wisdom. Singing and listening to scripture is but one way that we can study, act on and share the Word of God. As God desires of us to grow in Christ-likeness, so should we also desire it of our neighbours.
Recognising the seed of sin within us, any humanistic effort toward social justice will be fraught with sinful ambition, whether consciously or unconsciously. Therefore, it is paramount that we wholly lean on God to lead us as we seek to serve our neighbours.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:11-12 (ESV)