NDP favourite Home to be released as limited edition vinyl records signed by Kit Chan

SINGAPORE - For the first time, music fans can get hold of Kit Chan’s National Day favourite, Home, on a vinyl record.

To mark Singapore’s 61st birthday, only 61 copies will be available, each signed by the local singer. Orders will start on Aug 9 at noon via www.art-st.sg

The record features the English version of Home, the beloved National Day Parade (NDP) theme song of 1998 and 2004, and an instrumental version.

Produced by independent local record-cutting studio ART/ST Records, each set costs $198 and features a custom-cut record shaped like the island of Singapore.

It also includes a handmade ceramic HDB flat topper, created by local ceramic collective The Potters’ Guilt, inspired by Singapore’s 1930s public housing built by the Singapore Improvement Trust.

Chan says in a statement: “It really is so special and important to have this iconic song on a vinyl. When the song was first released in 1998, it was a CD release by MITA (the then Ministry of Information and the Arts), and I’m not even sure if it was ever available for purchase by the public.

“I myself only have that one CD single. There has never been a proper release of the song in a physical form. It has always been listened to in its digital form or performed live. I listen to vinyls myself, and in fact, I have put out many vinyl releases of my works, so I’m really excited about this special vinyl release of Home.”

ART/ST Records is run by co-founders Charlyn Yap, 35, and Lee Sin Yee, 34. Yap tells The Straits Times that the record was meant to be “a physical love letter to Singapore” and plans for it to be the start of a new annual National Day tradition.

Since it was started in 2025, ART/ST’s releases have included records by home-grown artistes such as Sezairi and Jean Seizure, as well as a special SG60 version of the 2024 NDP theme song Not Alone by Benjamin Kheng, Shazza and Rriley.

After coming up with the idea for releasing Home on record, Yap contacted the song’s publisher for a licence, which led to Chan’s management.

To access the master files, Yap reached out directly to the song’s composer, local veteran entertainer Dick Lee, who connected them with its original producer, Sydney Tan, to guide the technical translation onto vinyl.

Manufacturing each record involved a meticulous, real-time groove-etching process called lathe cutting. Unlike mass-produced pressed vinyl which uses moulds, a lathe-cutting machine translates audio vibrations into a diamond-cutting needle, or stylus, which physically etches sound-carrying grooves into a blank plastic disc in real time.

The studio used a stereo lathe for this project, a special machine that presented a steep learning curve for Yap. Because Singapore and the surrounding region lack technical expertise for this modern equipment, Yap had to coordinate video calls with sound engineers in the United Kingdom to calibrate the machine, which delayed the project by three weeks.

The studio also faced severe setbacks, such as when a supplier mistakenly delivered the wrong materials. Running test cuts on the incorrect plastic ruined their diamond styli, which cost around $300 each to replace.

Matt Martin, 41, the managing director of UK-based vinyl record company Spinner Town, came to the rescue by donating replacement styli and audio equipment.

Co-founder Lee Sin Yee hand-drew the packaging illustrations on an iPad. “This isn’t just a record about Singapore, it’s a living ecosystem of local makers,” Yap says.

Partners included home-grown companies RJ Paper, The One Inkjet, Cherry Pick Gifts, and Hei Jin & Wood.

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that the record features a previously unreleased English version of Home. ART/ST has since clarified that this version has been previously released.