Every so often, the sleepy silence of open-air Elias Mall in Pasir Ris transforms into a symphony of English, Mandarin and Cantonese oldies courtesy of silver busker duo, Tango and Jean, a pair of musically inclined seniors who picked up the hobby after retirement.
Tango, whose real name is Tang Yuen Wei, provides the melody with a guitar and harmonica that he plays in unison, while his busking partner Jean Lim carries the vocals.
The silvers average around 60 songs for each of their thrice-weekly sessions, performing without breaks save for an occasional sip of water, or when showing appreciation to passers-by who sling some change their way.
The whole performance lasts around four hours at a stint, which is significantly longer than pop megastar Taylor Swift’s recent three-hour blockbusters at the Singapore National Stadium.
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Musical overtures from their younger days
Though the silver duo only started busking as Tango and Jean a few years back in 2017, both of them have always been drawn to music since their younger days.
The older Yuen Wei was introduced to the harmonica by his older sister when he was just eight years old. He was blown away from the get-go, quickly joining up with the school club in primary and secondary school.
The harmonica soon grew from a passion into a full-blown career, as he went on to spend most of his working life as a harmonica instructor, among other teaching or conducting gigs.
It was during one of these gigs, in 2007, conducting the Chinese orchestra for a community club event that he met Jean and discovered her talent for vocals. She similarly uncovered her ardour for singing, back in primary school, though she only pursued professional vocal training when pressed by Yuen Wei.
Retirement coda
Thereafter, the pair performed together occasionally at various community events over the next decade, though it was only until the latter’s retirement that they decided to take up busking as Tango and Jean.
"It’s about the enjoyment of singing and performing the songs we love."
Buskers in Singapore are required to audition with the National Arts Council before they can legally perform in public.
Tango and Jean passed on their first try, thanks to the chemistry and confidence they’d built up performing together for years.
Next came the more difficult part: Figuring out which locations would give them the most bang for their buck.
Senior buskers connect with the audience over oldies
Nevertheless, the money they make from tips definitely isn’t enough to make a living.
While she declines to reveal an exact amount, other sources online estimate that buskers typically earn an average of $30 to $50 an hour.
Instead, most of the gratification she and her semi-retired performing partner get from busking is from interactions with the audience, which spans “different generations of all ages”.
“It’s quite heartening to see both younger and older people listening to, and enjoying our music together.”
So profound is the connection built up between audience and busker that passers-by often tell Tango and Jean personal stories about the songs they’re singing.
"Within the space of one song, they connect with you and open up with a touching story – 'Oh, this is my wife’s favourite song that we played at our wedding'. Once, we were playing It Never Rains in Southern California outside MBS – and a passer-by came up to us just to tell us, ‘Hey, I’m from California!’ and we had a great interaction off that moment."
Changing times
Despite their relatively short time in the busking scene, Tango and Jean have witnessed several evolutions in the industry – most, for the better.
Busking locations, for example, used to be on a first-come-first-served basis, meaning that a busker could travel all the way to a location only to find the place already occupied.
A digital location booking system introduced in 2022 solved that issue, and added some certainty into the buskers’ routine (they focus on heartland locations – head here for their schedule) – as will the newly introduced extended busking licenses for seasoned performers that allow them to go for up to four years between auditions. Currently, they have to audition every year.
"For those who do this for a living, it makes their jobs a bit more secure, as the competition is really heating up nowadays. There are a lot more youngsters nowadays who are classically trained, meaning they have had some form of professional training. The bar is a lot higher now."
In any case, Tango and Jean plan to keep busking for as long as they can, provided they’re both healthy.
