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Description
Space: opposite Chinese temple along Yishun Avenue 9
Time: 22nd July 2011

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Not exactly happy with how this picture turned out, but I still wanted to upload this to highlight an aspect of Singaporean life that I fear may be fast disappearing, and is often not shown to outsiders.

Last month I went to the Chinese temple that I have visited regularly since childhood for some prayers, as it was an important festival honouring the Chinese deity Guan Yu , who was a Chinese general from the Three Kingdoms era that is now venerated after his death as a deity by many Chinese people from the world over. As part of the festival, the temple hired a traditional Chinese opera troupe to stage a roadside Chinese opera on the open field opposite the temple.

Such roadside operas are open to the public; everyone and anyone are welcome to just come in and start enjoying the show at any time, completely free-of-charge. These kind of roadside Chinese operas used to be very common in my parents' and grandparents' days but unfortunately, with the rapid modernisation of Singapore, these open roadside shows seem to be dying out. Interest in such shows are also greatly waning; the people you are most likely to see enjoying such roadside shows could be the older generation of Chinese Singaporeans, who grew up with such roadside operas.

I'm not a big fan of Chinese operas, but one must admit that these operas have a lot of richness to it. The gracefulness of the choreographed movements, the traditional Chinese music, and the colour and texture of many of the costumes, they all come together to create a beautiful, complex visual artform that not many people will truly appreciate or understand. My mum is one of the few who does; back in my childhood days when my family went to the temple together, my mum could stay behind to watch these operas if they are on while the rest of us rode the bus home.

One can still catch a staging of a Chinese opera in a nice, comfortable theatre in Singapore, but of course these are paid performances. Besides, there is a kind of folksy charm about roadside performances that theatre stagings lack. These roadside operas also add richly to the multicultural texture and landscape of Singapore.

I really hope more people, especially the younger generation and visitors to this country, can learn to appreciate these performances and their charm before they all disappear. By then it will be too late...

Description
Space: opposite Chinese temple along Yishun Avenue 9
Time: 22nd July 2011

-----

Not exactly happy with how this picture turned out, but I still wanted to upload this to highlight an aspect of Singaporean life that I fear may be fast disappearing, and is often not shown to outsiders.

Last month I went to the Chinese temple that I have visited regularly since childhood for some prayers, as it was an important festival honouring the Chinese deity Guan Yu , who was a Chinese general from the Three Kingdoms era that is now venerated after his death as a deity by many Chinese people from the world over. As part of the festival, the temple hired a traditional Chinese opera troupe to stage a roadside Chinese opera on the open field opposite the temple.

Such roadside operas are open to the public; everyone and anyone are welcome to just come in and start enjoying the show at any time, completely free-of-charge. These kind of roadside Chinese operas used to be very common in my parents' and grandparents' days but unfortunately, with the rapid modernisation of Singapore, these open roadside shows seem to be dying out. Interest in such shows are also greatly waning; the people you are most likely to see enjoying such roadside shows could be the older generation of Chinese Singaporeans, who grew up with such roadside operas.

I'm not a big fan of Chinese operas, but one must admit that these operas have a lot of richness to it. The gracefulness of the choreographed movements, the traditional Chinese music, and the colour and texture of many of the costumes, they all come together to create a beautiful, complex visual artform that not many people will truly appreciate or understand. My mum is one of the few who does; back in my childhood days when my family went to the temple together, my mum could stay behind to watch these operas if they are on while the rest of us rode the bus home.

One can still catch a staging of a Chinese opera in a nice, comfortable theatre in Singapore, but of course these are paid performances. Besides, there is a kind of folksy charm about roadside performances that theatre stagings lack. These roadside operas also add richly to the multicultural texture and landscape of Singapore.

I really hope more people, especially the younger generation and visitors to this country, can learn to appreciate these performances and their charm before they all disappear. By then it will be too late...