Karyn & Sheng Li - Dhoby Ghaut MRT station - 9 Feb 2025

The Busking Chase has officially resumed! This season will see both the Busking Chase and the Gig Chase move from Instagram to blog form as the main mode of communication. It's not that I'm migrating out of Instagram entirely, but I'll still be there, though less active than the previous season as I'm going to post snippets of the Busking/Gig Chase there instead of posting Instagram story highlights like I used to do.

Like the Instagram Busking/Gig Chase, I would usually choose up to four songs from each busking session/gig performance. It depends on what I'll post (e.g. location, mood, time), but I'm going to start off by warming-up Season 2 of the Busking Chase, which includes slow-emo and iconic songs. Which means... after ending off the previous season with very sad songs, you'll finally be able to listen to more iconic and/or upbeat songs. Yes, you're seeing it right - singers like Stephen Sanchez and Taylor Swift will finally have their songs covered on the Busking Chase, while viral sensations like APT. and 跳楼机 will finally secure a spot after months of release. And not forgetting classics and iconic songs as well - they're also gonna be included in the chase. 她说 and 我是一只小小鸟 will be two of the songs that are going to be covered, alongside returning classics like The Young Ones - have to include it since it was the oldest song in the first season.

Oh, you can also expect more landscape reels, after posting mainly portrait reels back on Instagram.

To kickstart the new season of the Busking Chase, we have Karyn & Sheng Li (黄诗敏+苏晟立), busking as a group for the first time, and at a location that has been featured regularly in the final months of the busking chase - Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. You may remember Karyn & Sheng Li from their regular stint at Suntec City's Music in the City, which is now handed over to another band at the end of their stint. Here they are, now beginning to busk on the streets as a duo!

Karyn Wong (@iamnotagirl), known for her bubbly persona, is an emcee and singer managed by FLY Entertainment. Not only does she hosts and performs at events/on the streets, she is also a part-time DJ with Mediacorp's Love 97.2FM, and is also a mermaid. Yes. She also does some mermaid performances. For those of you who watched Ah Girls Go Army (女兵外传), she is one of the Recruits, Karen Seow, and for many of you who chased after your favourite buskers in Battle of the Buskers (游走的歌王), you may remember her as one of the three hosts, alongside Jeff Goh and Lee Teng. Her main instruments are the keyboard and the ukulele.

Soo Sheng Li (@guitarstreet) is a guitarist and singer who is the champion of SPH Radio's UFM 1003 singing competition Busk King. He also teaches guitar and is a marketing executive in the pharmaceutical sector. He is also a member of the band Papaya Duck (木瓜鸭), alongside the main duet Audrina and Grey, and supporting band members James and Kian Yong (who have recently joined), though Sheng Li will be either flying solo, or collaborating with Karyn for now. His main instrument - well you've guessed it - is the guitar.

Speaking about Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, it is a busking location that has been onboarded for quite some time now, but has been featured regularly on my Instagram profile since it has been onboarded (I have covered 28 songs there, behind One Holland Village's 45). It is also the deepest busking location, and when I mean deep, it is located at Basement 3 of the MRT station, in the paid link between the North East Line and the North South and Circle Lines. In addition, it is one of six busking locations to be located in the public transport system. The area falls under the jurisdiction of the North East Line, which is operated by SBS Transit. (See the orange star next to the escalators? That's where they'll busk.)

To busk, buskers will need to head to the passenger service centre and present their IC/Singpass and busking license to get the busking authorization letter (BAL), and return the BAL at the end of their busking session. Newly onboarded locations are piloted for three months with limited busking hours, with Dhoby Ghaut and four others open daily from 10a.m. to 2p.m., and Bedok Bus Interchange from 4p.m. to 8p.m. Though, I am expecting Dhoby Ghaut to get an extension, given the number of reels I filmed there 😁

Karyn & Sheng Li's busking session began at 11.00a.m. and lasted for three hours, with Sheng Li performing in the first hour with upbeat tunes, Karyn performing for the second hour with slower songs, and the both performing together in the last hour.

The three songs I have picked from the busking session (which will be the first songs of the Busking Chase) are:

• 朋友 [originally performed by Alan Tam (譚詠麟)]
  • Originally, the first song was supposed to be another song, but circumstances led me to pick this song instead. This is a sub-theme song for the Hong Kong film Armour of God (龍兄虎弟, 1987).
• 空白格 [originally performed by Tanya Chua (蔡健雅)]
  • Karyn performed this song alongside another guest, YES 933 DJ Gao Meigui (高美贵) in the second quarter-finals of Battle of the Buskers as a non-competition performance, alongside 你的甜蜜 by Mavis Fan.
• 你的倒影 [originally performed by Dawn Gan (颜黎明) and Peter Ang (洪劭轩)]

朋友 [originally performed by Alan Tam (譚詠麟)]

空白格 [originally performed by Tanya Chua (蔡健雅)]

你的倒影 [originally performed by Dawn Gan (颜黎明) and Peter Ang (洪劭轩)]