Remembering the 1960s in Pasar Theatre

Posted by noelbynature under Folklore, Lifestyle, Traditions
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If you’ve ever had to spend an extended period of time overseas, especially for work, then you certainly would be familiar with the practice of calling or writing home. These days, it’s very simple to do so: international phone calls are relatively  cheap - free, even, if you use an internet phone service like skype. And writing is simpler today because of email. Even a quick note can be sent in a heartbeat with a few clicks, as compared to the  using the postal service which would take many weeks to get your letters sent. Younger Singaporeans today have better opportunities to go overseas to work and study; but it wasn’t too long ago that a previous generation of Singaporeans came here to work and had to write home, waiting weeks and months for a reply. This generation is remembered in Pasar Theatre, a production under the Singapore Arts Festival, which took place in Kreta Ayer Square a couple of weeks ago.

Pasar Theatre brought together a number of traditional and modern Chinese acts, including the Kityang Huay Kwan Teochew Opera Group and Siong Leng Musical Association. Weaving together the different acts is the story of Ah Qin, an 18-year-old girl who comes to Southeast Asia in search of a better life. Chinatownboy caught some snatches of the performance, of Ah Qin writing home:

To bring the folks back to the old days, the emcee was dressed in the typical samfoo of yesteryears, 1960s and before. And of course, with young girls, there was the typical twin pony tails. Ah, only this time, the lady emcee was speaking mostly Mandarin. I was trying to scan the faces of the old folks to see if they could understand. Some did. She did add in some Hokkien here and there, and probably some snatches of Cantonese as well.

To many of the old folks, the small skitch that I saw of her talking to an imaginery letter writer of her telling her parents back home about her work in Nanyang and enquiring if their sow at home had already given birth .. they certainly must have brought lumps to the throat, if they understood the Mandarin.

While most of the performance was in Mandarin (as opposed to the various Chinese dialects that would have been common a generation ago), Pasar Theatre struck a chord with many of the residents of Chinatown. You can read Chinatownboy’s account of the performance in Pasar Theatre in Chinatown.

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