‘He’d be very proud’: 3 generations perform at NDP, carrying on late dad’s love for the limelight
When Shirin Hushairi Taylor takes the stage at this year’s National Day Parade with her mother and two children, one person will be missing from the family moment.
Her father, who first inspired their love for singing and performing, died in 2008, a day after his 50th birthday.
For Shirin, 43, performing at the NDP brings back memories of attending the parade with him as a teenager.
“My love for limelight started from my dad,” she shared, adding that her father had always been an “inspiration”.
Growing up, weekly karaoke sessions were a family tradition, with everyone gathering to sing their favourite songs.
As her father loved songs by American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie and Welsh singer Tom Jones, Shirin grew up listening to what she affectionately calls “evergreen songs”.
Singing them today, she said, brings her back to those treasured family moments.
While her father may not have been the most naturally gifted performer, that never stopped him.
“He could sing once he got the key right, but his movements were a bit awkward,” Shirin said with a laugh.
It was his passion and willingness to put himself out there that left the biggest impression on her.
She believes it was from him that the family first developed its love for performing.
Shirin herself began singing and performing at the age of five, encouraged by her parents to take part in competitions.
She later appeared in the inaugural season of Singapore Idol in 2004 and went on to perform in theatre productions, taking on the lead role of Donna in a drama class production of Mamma Mia!, appearing in a staging of Cabaret, and now performing at this year’s NDP.
Now, decades after those family karaoke sessions, Shirin will perform at the NDP alongside her mother, Noriza Mohamed Salleh, 68, and her children, Ariana, 12, and Ezra, 10.
“I think if he was still alive, he would like to be part of this too,” Shirin said wistfully.
“If my dad saw all of us today, he’d be very proud.”
He met her future husband just before he died
The loss remains especially poignant for Shirin because her father got to meet the man she would eventually marry shortly before his death.
“The fact that (my dad) got to meet my husband and approve of him, was a very big deal,” she said.
Today, that same husband is supporting the family from behind the scenes, chauffeuring Shirin, Noriza and the children to and from NDP rehearsals each week — a role she described as “quite a tough job”.
And while Shirin’s father sparked her love of the limelight, her mother Noriza was the one who nurtured it.
Noriza had been performing long before becoming a mother herself.
Inspired by an uncle who played in a band, she entered singing competitions in secondary school and performed at multiple venues — including the historic open-air National Theatre (Panggung Negara) — before putting her aspirations aside to get married and start a family.
She thought her performing days were behind her.
At 68, she is now getting another shot, landing acting gigs for a Hari Raya commercial and an upcoming Deepavali campaign.
When the opportunity to perform at the NDP came along, she even gave up her annual trip to the UK to visit her son so she could take part in rehearsals.
“When you have it, you grab it, while I can still sing and move,” she said, adding that this chapter of her life was a dream come true.
One audition, 3 generations
The family did not initially expect all four of them to end up at the NDP.
When Shirin received an audition notice from the conductor of the People’s Choir, the invitation was originally intended for her, her husband and their two children.
Knowing that her husband was not interested in performing, she decided to submit an audition tape for her mother instead.
“I thought I should just send an audition tape for my mum as well because she is the reason why we do what we do,” she said.
While everyone else sent simple WhatsApp voice recordings, Noriza went all out and filmed herself belting out a song, karaoke-style.
“We sent in our tapes and did not expect all four of us to get in, but we did,” Shirin said.
Now the grandchildren have caught the bug
Ariana and Ezra have also inherited the family’s love for performing.
Ariana joked that growing up with Shirin meant growing up in a house where someone was always singing.
“My mum likes to be very dramatic,” she quipped. “She sings every day. I used to think, ‘Should I tell her to keep quiet?’ But nowadays I kind of do that too.”
Both children already have stage experience.
At just four years old, she was in the UK for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe when organisers invited children on stage to sing Let It Go from the 2013 Disney hit, Frozen.
“I was like, ‘me!’ so I ran onto the stage and sang it,” she beamed.
Since then, she has performed in several theatre productions, while Ezra recently played Chip in Beauty and the Beast at Marina Bay Sands.
But neither had performed alongside their grandmother before.
This National Day, the siblings will also perform Giants and Sparkle alongside Iman Fandi and Gareth Fernandez.
For the children, rehearsals have brought some unexpected perks.
Ezra recalled helping Iman with her outfit. “She kept stepping on her skirt, so we offered to hold it for her,” he said, chuckling.
Ariana, meanwhile, has enjoyed meeting the “famous people” backstage.
“In school I can be like, ‘I high-fived Joakim Gomez you know’,” she said.
Shirin even appeared in the music video for Sparkle, prompting Ariana’s schoolmates to message her asking if the woman they spotted was her mother.
Beyond the performances, the family said being part of the People’s Choir has also been about forging friendships with people from all walks of life.
With Ezra being the youngest member, Shirin said the experience reflected what the NDP is all about — bringing together people from different backgrounds who call the Republic home.
“I’m so happy to be able to contribute to Singapore. This is my first time and hopefully not the last,” said Noriza.
‘My mum made me who I am today’
Looking back on the experience, Shirin said she hopes to pass on to her children the same confidence her mother instilled in her.
“My mum, who has been the one encouraging me to perform, made me who I am today,” she said. “I’m very confident and I would like the same thing for my children.”
For Noriza, rehearsals have brought an unexpected gift too: more time with her daughter and grandchildren.
“They’re always so busy. This is the time I get to see them every week. I’m so happy,” she said.
This National Day, that family tradition has come full circle, with three generations performing together on the same stage — something Shirin’s father never got the chance to see.
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