They included the MRT warning to “Sila berhati-hati di ruang platform” (“Please mind the platform gap” in Malay), familiar to millions who ride the city state’s metro system, and the piercing, repetitive call of the Asian koel, a bird whose cry is instantly recognisable in many Singapore neighbourhoods.

Threaded through the set was the sound of the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese instrument that local DJ Likie Low has played since childhood.

For the 27-year-old, whose stage name is Likki, her 30-minute set on July 25 at Tomorrowland was a chance to turn the everyday Singapore sounds into dance music for a global crowd.

As one of the few Singaporeans who had had the chance to play at the annual music festival, she wanted to bring a piece of herself to one of the world’s largest electronic dance festivals.

“Since I got to play Tomorrowland, and it might be the first and the last chance in my life I get to do that, I wanted to incorporate every single part myself and all my own music is very Chinese. So it’s like showing myself as a Singaporean Chinese, even though people there won’t understand what an Ang Mo Kio Avenue is,” she said, referring to a residential district in Singapore.