Tan Chu Yuan - Paya Lebar Square - 26 Feb 2025

The Busking Chase formally introduces its first ever guzheng performer on the chase, as well as the first new busker to be covered in season two. (Technically the second, if you count Karyn & Sheng Li as a new busking group.)

Meet Tan Chu Yuan (陈楚元) (@into.thetunes), a full-time guzheng instructor who never fails to wear a suit to busk. Mentored by the esteemed Tan Chin Huat (another senior guzheng instructor), Chu Yuan began learning the guzheng at 5 years old and since then worked hard to become a guzheng instructor, having earned a Bachelor's degree in Music Education with Psychology from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. He is the second busking performance of the day at Paya Lebar Square, with Karyn & Sheng Li having performed prior.

On why he wears a suit to busk:

A little context on the guzheng. The guzheng is a Chinese musical instrument that has a long history dating back to 500 B.C., and is played by plucking the strings with the fingers/fingerpicks, with the right hand plucking notes and the left hand to add ornamentation. It has movable bridges, typically 21 strings, and a large, resonant soundboard, giving a fluid and graceful and crystalline sound.

Some photos I took from his busking perfomance:

The two songs I have picked from the busking session are:

• 孤勇者 [originally performed by Eason Chan (陈奕迅)]
  • This is the Mandarin theme song for the Netflix steampunk action-adventure series Arcane: League of Legends.
• 大鱼 [originally performed by Zhou Shen (周深)]
  • This is the second song from season one of the Busking Chase to be featured again in season two, with Yiruma's instrumental piece Kiss the Rain being the first.

孤勇者 [originally performed by Eason Chan (陈奕迅)]

大鱼 [originally performed by Zhou Shen (周深)]

Paya Lebar Square is a busking location open from Monday to Saturday.