Joey Mendoza Now Apologised & Withdrew Previous Claims After MCCY Stepped In

By
George Yang
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Well, if anything, you can count on the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) to protect the rights of…any Singapore song.

Today, the ministry released a statement, and the saga of who composed the song “Count on Me, Singapore” might finally come to an end.

Joey Mendoza Now Apologised & Withdrew Previous Claims After MCCY Stepped In

According to MCCY, Joey Mendoza, the man in India involved in the entire incident, has confirmed to the ministry these:

  1. He in fact does not have any evidence to substantiate his claim that he had written “We Can Achieve” in 1983, and he also does not lay any claim to the lyrics and tune of the Song.
  2. He accepts that the Government of Singapore holds the copyright to the music and lyrics of the Song.
  3. He has unconditionally and irrevocably withdrawn any claims of whatsoever nature, directly or indirectly, with regard to the lyrics and tune of “We Can Achieve”, which is similar to the Song.
  4. He has informed all of his associates and networks of the above, and instructed all social media platforms to remove “We Can Achieve”.

This came after MCCY pressed him to substantiate his claims, as his claim is a direct affront to Singapore’s ownership and interest in the song.

MCCY also mentioned that in Singapore, there were first-hand accounts of how the song was developed.

Also, MCCY even conducted checks in India and found  “no evidence or records whatsoever of Mr Mendoza having any rights to ‘We Can Achieve’ from 1983 or anytime thereafter.”

In addition, “Mr Mendoza has apologised for the “confusion caused” and also states that he has no intention of attacking the integrity or professionalism of Mr Hugh Harrison.”

With that, MCCY accepted Mendoza’s apology and will treat the matter as closed.

Here’s MCCY’s statement in full:

What Happened Between Joey Mendoza & The Song

Lest you’ve not been paying your Internet bills and didn’t know what the hoo-ha is all about, here’s a recap.

More than a week ago, netizens realised that some people in India have been singing a song called “We Can Achieve” that is almost similar to Singapore’s NDP 1986 theme song, “Count on Me, Singapore”.

Here’s a re-upload of the song:

That news went viral, and initially, MCCY issued a statement, saying that they are investigating it, but then changed their stand, saying that “imitation is the best form of flattery.”

With netizens having goldfish memory, this could’ve marked the end of the saga until an organization in India apologised on Facebook, confessing that they’ve actually bought the rights of the song from a certain Mr Joey Mendoza in 1999 and didn’t know that the song was our NDP song. They even sold the song for real cash.

Now that it’s become commercial and the origin of the song is being disputed, shit hit the fan.

Joey Mendoza then went on the record to claim that he did compose the song in 1983, three years before “Count on Me, Singapore” was sung by Singaporeans islandwide. However, he had no evidence to prove that as data of its existence was washed away in a flood on 26 Jul 2005, but he had taught it to the children from the Bal Bhavan Orphanage in Mumbai and they performed it a month later during an annual gathering, so they were the “living proof”.

Conversely, the composer of “Count on Me, Singapore” also went on the record to claim that he was indeed the original composer, and his claim was backed by people who worked with him to come out with the song in 1986.

MCCY then stepped in again, this time saying that they’ve contacted Joey Mendoza to substantiate his claims.

And of course, today happened, and thankfully the season finale isn’t one that’s written by a Netflix writer.

Featured Image: Screengrab from CNA video

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]