The Ministry of National Defense has confirmed that it canceled the armed forces’ military singing competition to ensure that troops can focus properly on training and combat readiness.
While teaching and singing military songs could help boost morale, promoting such songs would no longer involve formal evaluations, it said.
Instead, troops would incorporate song-teaching into assemblies and political education activities, provided it does not interfere with combat training, it said.
Photo: Screen grab from the school’s Web site
A military official said on condition of anonymity that while the military song singing competition has boosted morale for many years, troops tend to invest significant effort to perform well, spending time rehearing, designing chants and practicing choreography.
Spending excessive time preparing for these competitions infringes on combat readiness and training, the official said.
The ministry decided to suspend all such competitions, but troops can still find appropriate times to teach military songs, as long it does not interfere with readiness, they said.
In the 1950s and 1960s, many military songs were created through public submissions and competitions.
The ministry established a military song writing group in 1962 to institutionalize the process, and it produced many classic military songs including Night Raid (夜襲) and I Have a Gun (我有一支槍).
Military songs were promoted in the 1970s, with singing competitions becoming an annual highlight for troops and military academies, improving cohesion and showcasing the spirit of the armed forces.
Public and private universities and colleges also held on-campus and intercollegiate military song competitions at that time.
Although such competitions at non-military institutions have been discontinued for many years, competitions within the armed forces and at military academies were held until last year.
The military hosted many kinds of singing competitions, including the Golden Sheng KTV Singing Competition in the 1990s, which was a large-scale event that involved many big-name celebrities.
It was meant to promote recreational activities for soldiers and improve the military’s public image.
The final awards were presented by the director of the Political Warfare Bureau, with troops across the military participating wholeheartedly and promotion involving celebrity conscripts.
Although the competition was discontinued after several editions, it succeeded in conveying a public image of the armed forces as lively, approachable and modernized.
The military’s cultural and arts activities then returned to focusing on the Armed Forces Golden Statue Awards for Literary and Arts, maintaining the stability and depth of artistic creation within the military.
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