Chinatown Stories | Updated as of August 2019

Chinese street opera (Wayang) Although this performing art form is no longer as popular as it once was, it remains an iconic part of ’s rich cultural heritage.

Introduction With its exquisite costumes, stylised movements and beautifully painted faces, it’s easy to see how Chinese street opera in Singapore was a well-loved form of public entertainment during its heyday. Opera performances used to draw such huge crowds that attempts were even made to regulate it. The advent of other entertainment sources, like television and the internet, has reduced its popularity, but this Chinese art form continues to be performed by professional and amateur opera troupes, albeit in ever-dwindling numbers.

In Singapore, Chinese street opera is known as wayang (Malay for “a theatrical performance employing puppets or human dancers”) or jiexi (街戏, Mandarin for “street show”). There are three main genres of wayang, based on the three largest Chinese dialect groups, the fujianxi (福 建戏), Teochew chaoju （潮剧）and yueju (粵劇).

The rise and fall of Chinese street opera First brought to Singapore by Chinese immigrants in the 19th century as part of their religious rites, Chinese street opera has long been an important part of Singapore’s Chinese heritage and culture. Oftentimes, wayang performances would be staged outdoors on temple grounds during religious and customary festivals, and businessmen, temples and clan associations hired the opera troupes.

By the mid-19th century, wayang became so popular among the Chinese community and drew such massive audiences that the colonial authorities were concerned enough to try and restrict the performances. But these measures failed, and wayang continued to flourish.

Travelling troupes from China and Hong Kong would also perform in Singapore. Besides their entertainment value, Chinese opera performances were also a part of daily life, and the opera houses in Chinatown were a favourite meeting place for Chinese immigrants. The performances by these China troupes were also a way for people to raise funds to support the political developments in China, including the war efforts against the Japanese.

However, the 1900s led to the invention of a new technology that spelt doom for Chinese street opera – motion pictures. By the 1920s, audiences were crowding cinema halls in amusement parks instead for entertainment and the popularity of Chinese opera declined. By the late 1930s to early 1940s, Chinese opera was almost no longer performed at opera theatres.

After the Japanese Occupation (1942 to 1945), although the 1960s saw a rush of popular opera movies and performances by overseas opera troupes, Chinese wayang’s decline continued further, as Singapore faced a depressed economy and social and political unrest.

Other factors would seal the fate of Chinese street opera in Singapore, including rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, the golden age of cinema, the government’s push to replace Chinese dialects with Mandarin, a more westernised population, and an ageing audience.

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The glamour of Chinese wayang theatres During the heyday of Chinese wayang, dedicated theatres were built in Chinatown, such as Heng Wai Sun (庆升平) and Heng Seng Peng (庆维新), on what was then known as Wayang Street, today’s . These theatres once stood on the present site of People’s Park Complex.

But the action really took place in the main entertainment district in the heart of Chinatown around Smith Street, known then as Hei Yuen Kai （戏院街） or “Theatre Street” in Cantonese. Smith Street was home to the grand dame of Singapore’s opera theatres, Lai Chun Yuen (梨春园). Built in 1887, this Cantonese opera house was designed to look like a Chinese teahouse, occupying a three- storey shophouse and featuring an 834-seat theatre.

The audience could sit at small tables, eating snacks and sipping tea as opera stars danced and sang on stage. There were also private cubicles where richer patrons could procure vice services, provided by the brothels nearby. Plays would be held twice daily, and famous opera stars from China and Hong Kong such as Hung Sin-nui (红线女) and Sun Ma Sze Tsang (新马师曾) performed there in the early 20th century.

Later renamed Sun Seng Theatre, the building was bombed during the Japanese Occupation (1942– 45) and was almost completely destroyed. After the war, it was repaired and later owned by different people, before becoming a shop and a warehouse. After an award-winning restoration in 1998, the building was bought by a Taiwanese businessman, who donated it to a religious association in 2005. Today, the former opera theatre now houses the 80-room Santa Grand Hotel Lai Chun Yuen hotel, at 25 Trengganu Street.

Notable theatres One of the later pre-war opera theatres to be constructed was the Tien Yien Moi Toi Theatre (天演 舞台), which was designed by the same architect of Raffles Hotel and Victoria Memorial Hall. Built by the philanthropist and tycoon Eu Tong Sen in 1927 for his wife, a Chinese opera fan, this striking theatre featured opera performances that drew full-capacity crowds. It was converted to a cinema in 1938, then renamed Majestic Theatre and became a shopping centre. The former theatre has since been conserved and is now occupied by a Cash Converters store.

Lastly, there is the Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre at 30A , which recently re-opened in July 2019 after a 16-month renovation. First built in 1969, it is seen as the successor to Lai Chun Yuen and continues to advocate and educate Chinese arts and culture to the public. Today, the 900- capacity theatre holds monthly opera performances by Cantonese, Teochew and Hokkien troupes.

Chinese wayang today Only about 10 professional street opera troupes remain in Singapore, but several amateur troupes continue to adapt and evolve in Singapore. One is the family-run Sin Ee Lye Heng Teochew Opera Troupe, the last surviving Teochew puppet troupe in Singapore that wants to keep the Teochew opera and puppetry tradition alive. Although the art form’s appeal is limited to an ever-dwindling audience, made up largely of Chinese cultural buffs and curious foreign visitors, attempts to preserve wayang as part of Singapore’s cultural heritage are encouraged by the government and community associations.

To attract more people, local troupes are writing original scripts or adaptations that draw on stories from regional cultures, such as a Teochew adaptation of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana by the Chinese

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Opera Institute. Other groups make efforts to reach out to a wider crowd, by using English and Chinese subtitles in their performances to engage non dialect speaking audience.

References:  http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2014-01-23_121900.html  http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_330_2005-01-22.html  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lai_Chun_Yuen_Opera_House  http://blog.nus.edu.sg/u0702662/2011/03/15/week-8-functions-of-chinese-opera/  http://www.chinatown.sg/index.php?fx=directory&&g1=category&g2=3&g3=25&m=list&tid =698#tenantdetails  https://www.singaporememory.sg/contents/SMA-b03f5291-41db-408d-8248-66925ecfed94  https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/in-pictures-for-chinese-street-opera- performers-show-must-go-on-8978104  https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/Media/PDFs/Article/94189c68-0c6f-4383-81a8- a3cbc2d815fc.pdf  The Majestic Theatre (大华戏院): Where Chinese Opera Ruled by Kong Kam Yoke, written on 26 June 2012 National Library Board, Singapore  https://roots.sg/learn/resources/ich/chinese-opera

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