尊师敬艺六十载 - 朱敬芬

A tribute to Chee Kin Fen for her 60 years' unwavering dedication to Cantonese opera - 21 September 2013, Kreta Ayer People's Theatre

朱敬芬

淩东明, 朱敬芬

陈泠孜, 朱愛芬

严忠胜, 朱少芬

李建昌, 賽雪心

陈绿漪, 黃少珊

Collecting things

When I was young I used to collect stamps. It started with letters sent to my father by his relatives in China. I collected the stamps on the envelopes. Later, in the same way, I collected stamps from my sister's oversea pen-pals. I also collected first day covers on suggestion from a friend. However, I was never serious about collecting stamps. I stopped the hobby after some years.

Then I collected coins – commemorative coins issued by the Singapore Mint. Again, not really passionate about it. I have stopped collecting coins. 

Here is  one of the coins - a 1976 $10 silver proof coin with the picture of a ship on one side.

Next, I started collecting Cantonese opera magazines. After a few years I had a few dozens of them. They take up space and you need to take care of them so that they remain in good conditions. I have stopped buying them regularly.

We read about people collecting things – dolls, toys, clocks, posters and so on. Some spend a lot of money on their collections and have hundreds and thousands of the things they collect. It can be a joy but I think it can also be quite stressful taking care of them.

If you collect things like wine or art pieces, maybe you can drink your wine or sell your collections or give them to your children when you lose your passion for them. But for clocks or opera magazines, I guess you can only give them to others who have the same interest.   

龔耀祥生日

Last Saturday I attended the show at Marine Parade Community Club.
The compere said that the performers of the opera excerpts that afternoon were students of Gary Kong. One of them is his senior student. The others are probably quite new.

After the show there was a little celebration for Gary Kong as it was his birthday. 

Happy birthday to Gary. The lady beside Gary is Wong Fei, 黃妃

宏茂橋雲峰古廟大伯公誕街戲

Street opera at the group of temples at Street 44 Ang Mo Kio - 7 September 2013

生: 詹浩鋒, 裴駿軒

旦: 紫伶秋, 林子青

紫伶秋, 裴駿軒, 莫醒麟, 何波, 詹浩鋒, 林子青

邵振環 Siu Chan Wan

Last Saturday I watched Siu Chan Wan perform an excerpt at Kreta Ayer People's Theatre. It was only the second time I watched him. The first time was in 2002 during Pat Woh Wui Koon's 145th anniversary celebrations, also at Kreta Ayer People's Theatre (see second picture).

This is Siu Chan Wan. My camera was not functioning well. The flash didn't work, so this blur photo.

 

From his performance that night I think he must be an outstanding and competent xiao sheng during his prime years, handsome and with many many fans. One opera fan said he is 82 but some believe he is older. Anyone knows?