At Thien Hock Keng Temple

It was still early after dinner at Chinatown. I had bought ticket for the China Quyi Concert at the Singapore Conference Hall. The show would only start at 8pm. I remembered Miko’s Troupe had a performance at Thien Hock Keng Temple at Telok Ayer Street which is quite near. I decided to go have a look.

This temple, also known as Temple of Heavenly Happiness, is the oldest and most important Hokkien Temple in Singapore. Hee..hee.. not that I know a lot about temples. I read it in a friend’s blog. If you are interested, click here: http://chinesetemples.blogspot.com/

I reached the temple after seven. A young man was talking to an audience in the temple courtyard. Show started already, I thought. I sat down and looked around. Those sitting at the front were mostly tourists while the locals were behind. The young man looked a bit familiar. He was telling the audience about the history of Nanyin and Liyuanxi. He also mentioned about the Goddess of Mercy Festival.

Then three pretty young ladies and a handsome lad dressed in Tang costumes appeared. Each of them was holding a different musical instrument and they gave a demonstration of Nanyin. I find the scene has a sort of ancient oriental charm and beauty. You can imagine yourself transported back in ancient time to the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty.

I realized that this was a talk-cum-demonstration show mainly for tourists. I asked a man selling vcds at a table. He confirmed what I thought. He said the actual show would start at about eight.

Next, a handsome young man dressed as a scholar (a sheng) demonstrated some movements and expressions of emotions as well as how to use the sleeves.

Finally some tourists were invited to put on a piece of costume and to follow the movements of the sheng.

I left after 7.30. Hope I will be able to see the artistes perform in Tang costumes or in Qipao another time.