Recess week - Interview with Rui Han

It was an absolute joy to meet up with our 2nd busker interviewee - the bubbly and down-to-earth third year NTU Business student Rui Han. Sitting down with us at Haagen Dazs, Rui Han seemed like your typical university student as he could relate to us on many things related to university life, be it having assignments or even rejoicing over having recess week, but what added an extraordinary element to his experiences this year was his decision to become a busker.

Having little confidence in his singing initially, Rui Han slowly found his footing and discovered great enjoyment in performing as he performed in school performances in Junior College and even during university. The turning point came on 31st December 2015 ("new year, new you?" we joked), when he decided to pick up his guitar and busk for the very first time at Bishan Park, no microphone, no speaker, for about 1 or 2 hours and heading home with $3 in tips and the excitement of a new beginning. Today, Rui Han views busking as his avenue for self expression and also interestingly, an outlet for de-stressing. Describing himself as a deep thinker, he projects his emotions into his songs, sheepishly sharing about his preference for singing "sad songs", and even relates busking to be a "spiritual experience". Rui Han's Audition for a Busking License from the National Arts Council (NAC)

Loaning an amplifier from Jarvis (our previous interviewee and also Rui Han's good friend), he set out to his audition:

"I was the first to go, my act is singing so they’ll (NAC) judge based on whether you exude an energy that is entertaining for the streets, (you) must be interactive, on the streets you have to interact with the crowd. They (NAC) will see all your technical things also, they’ll see your amplifier, the sound that comes out, if it’s too fuzzy or what, they factor it into the judging. I wasn’t sure if i passed; they actually stopped me halfway (of my song), they said 'can you please engage us more?' Then i thought okay, i tried to engage by smiling and looking at them." Rui Han had indeed passed and successfully received his busking license on February 2016! :)

However, when the next step came for licensed buskers to choose five busking areas in Singapore for approval, Rui Han's choices were all unfortunately rejected as he had picked all five from the town area. Geraldine and I thus found out from this interview that there was a segregation of allocated areas according to how ready or suitable a busker is perceived to be (based on their audition), with the town area being the top hot spot because of the high human traffic and also affluence of the crowd (which also includes tourists). From a logistics perspective, Rui Han mentioned how the town area might also require better equipment such as better speakers so as to be more clearly heard in the crowded area. This brings to mind the economic factors of busking, such as one's investment into equipment. We were also told that approved buskers who play in the town area vie for the limited spaces along Orchard road (also mentioned in our interview with Jarvis). Rui Han also brought up the area of Tampines as another popular and increasingly over-saturated place for buskers, and thus was a place he avoided playing at.

Rui Han's Busking Experiences

Although Rui Han did not get his initial choices in the town area, he thoroughly enjoys busking and also busks for longer hours (4-5 hours) to "match up" to the exposure he would have gotten in town, as Bishan can be said to be a comparably less prominent area. One of the most impactful things about busking to him would be the chance to be "exposed to the world", with his interactions with people who stop by and chat with him, and his observations about the people in his surroundings. Ruin Han shared with us one of his most memorable experiences: "This lady and her daughter came up to me, she said 'I'm deaf but my daughter tells me that you just played a song that i used to sing a few years back before i was deaf', (this experience just) touches you. Looking for the song, she was lipreading on the spot, it was amazing, (it) makes you think about the deaf community and to be more aware."

It is through experiences like these in getting to know a bit more about people that he feels that his world view is expanded. He also feels a sense of happiness when his music makes an impact on people, such as with incidents whereby people had come up to him and told him that he had made their day.

On the other hand, there have also been a few incidents where people have disrespected his space, and Rui Han also shared how some people may even view busking as a form of "glorified begging". Having to deal with people who overstep the boundaries, such as an incident with a man snatching the microphone away from him to sing, is a challenge that buskers have to face. Although these negative experiences taint only a small part of the whole experience, the issue of buskers having a respected space is one that seems to stand out among our interviewers with our first two buskers. The idea of being sort of a "public figure" also carries with it an expectation from the public for buskers to be open and friendly to everyone, and buskers are in a position to embrace a public persona as they do what they love. The dynamics of space and the relationship between the busker and the public is also something that is not clearly defined. Busking and the Future

Rui Han currently busks once or twice a week, normally on Fridays or Saturdays, and busking continues to be a highlight of his week. When asked whether he would continue to busk after graduation and getting a job, he replied that the nature of his future job would probably be one that is flexible, thereby allowing him to continue enjoying his busking hobby.

A special thank you to Rui Han for being so open with us, we really appreciated the candidness of the interview and how talking to him felt like we were talking to a fellow friend with lots of laughs. Geraldine even got to sing with Rui Han while he was busking, check it out here: http://ghostbuskersg.wixsite.com/makeachange/single-post/2016/09/26/A-Day-in-the-Life-of-a-Busker

Do click on our "Buskers" tab for more information on Rui Han and his busking adventure :)

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