At the Clinic

Last week I went to the Polyclinic for a minor ailment. Mid-afternoon, weekday. Took a queue number and waited for about 10 minutes at the registration. When my turn came I requested for my regular doctor – a young petite lady with her short hair tied in a ponytail. I feel she has the doctor look. She has been seeing me for at least 2 years.

Waited more than one hour outside her consultation room. During this time more than ten patients went in and out of her room.

During my session, a new doctor next door came over and asked her for advice. She went over for a brief minute or two.

My ailment was nothing serious. She prescribed me some medication.

Then I asked her whether she attended to about 80 patients a day. My guess was not far off – she said she saw 78 patients the day before. I mentioned that she must be tired and frustrated seeing so many patients. She said it was tiring but her greatest frustration was with difficult patients. I sympathize with her as myself has often dealt with difficult people. I just told her to cheer up and not to be too bothered with them.

While writing this I thought I could have told her that there are also many people with great respect for doctors. I am one of them.

Japan’s war crimes and its apologies

At last month's Asia-Africa conference held in Indonesia, Japanese prime minister made a public apology to the nations which had suffered under Japan’s aggression.

Japan has apologized several times over the years. Is Japan sincere?

Consider the following.

In fact the Japanese Government had never admitted that Asian women were forced to be ‘comfort women’ (sex slaves) until a UN Commission released a report which confirmed the truth. Still some Japanese officials claimed that the women became prostitutes in order to earn quick money!

Similarly, the JG never admitted to capturing thousands of civilians for slave labour, subjecting them to degrading treatment, torture and senseless killing.

The JG has also remained silent on the most notorious war crime committed by Unit 731 which carried out hideous biological and chemical experiments with live prisoners.

The Japanese PM’s annual visit to the Yasukuni Shrine which honours the war dead including 14 Class A war criminals. The Shrine is regarded by Asian nations as a monument to Japanese militarism.

The most recent issue: The approval of a textbook that distorts and waters down Japan’s war atrocities. Some recent books do not even mention the issues of comfort women and forced labour and in many new history textbooks the horrendous Nanking Massacre in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were butchered is merely referred to as the Nanjing Incident.

It seems that Japan still believes that it has done no wrong or that it does not want to confess its guilt and redress the situation. What is the point of apologizing if it is not followed by deeds.

Against such a backdrop, the recent anti-Japan demonstrations in China and South Korea should not be seen as narrow-minded nationalism.

Latest: It was reported today (27/05/05) that a Japanese lawmaker said that those convicted in the Tokyo War Crime Trial were not considered criminals in Japan and that there was nothing wrong in honouring them.

The Guangdong Academy of CO Youth Troupe

The Guangdong Academy of Cantonese Opera Youth Troupe exudes vigour and vitality. Many artistes are in their early twenties with some in the late teens. The most outstanding artiste is Zeng Xiao Min. She excels whether as a warrior or a maiden.

The operas:

The Invincible Wu Song

Zeng Xiao Min as Pang Jin Lian and Peng Qing Hua as Wu Song. In this version Pang Jin Lian was not portrayed as the adulteress who poisoned her husband but as a woman who was taken advantage of when she was drunk. She did not ask her husband to drink the poisoned wine but she did not stop him when he wanted to drink it not knowing it has been poisoned.

I felt that the storyline was rather disappointing. The most exciting scene was the last scene in which Peng Qing Hua showed his excellent martial and acrobatic skills.

The Magic Pearl

A love story between a heavenly being and an earthly man. In the battle scene Zeng Xiao Min displayed superb martial skills and techniques. One of her signature move was six continuous 360 degrees complete body twists. It was a delight to watch her. Another skill she has mastered was the warding off of spears thrown to her with different parts of the body and in various positions. Xiao Min has a good voice and sings well too.

The Sword of Betrothal

In this opera Peng Qing Hua was the bad guy. I think he was quite successful in this role though his portrayal of the cunning character was not as convincing as the Cantonese film actor Sek Kin or Keong Chung Peng in the old Cantonese films.

The Monkey King and Princess Iron Fan

I think this is the most entertaining opera. This would be a good opera to attract the young or to promote opera in schools – a good fairy tale with humour and great acrobatics. Unfortunately we do not have artistes like Peng Qing Wah or Zeng Xiao Min.

It was a fantastic show by Peng Qing Hua. One highlight was Peng jumping through a row of eight hoops held shoulder-high. Another was his rotating of the monkey king’s golden rod with his hand at amazing speed. His toying of his rod, a knife, a hoop and a hammer and sometimes all items at the same time delighted the audience, particularly the children.

Opera Excerpts

The following two opera excerpts were refreshing and enjoyable. One reason I believe was that they have not been performed here before. Another reason was that the artistes performed well.

1. ‘Compelling a Nephew to go and take The Imperial Exam’ was a hilarious excerpt. Wen Ru Qing played the main scholar who was reluctant to go for the exam because he was in love with a nun. He sang well.

2. ‘Strange encounter’ was about a female ghost asking a man to help her seek justice. Liang Xiao Ying played the ghost. Her singing was melodious and pleasing.

Another excerpt, 'The Assassin', was an experimental piece of modern opera by the Youth Troupe. The fighting part was like what you see in kung-fu movies complete with computer-generated sound effects. I wonder what Cantonese opera traditionalists think of it.

CTC artiste Joanna Wong did not perform the excerpt with Ting Fan as scheduled in the programme. I think she felt out of place in a night dominated by young performers.

Money Plaques

04 April 2005 Monday night, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre

This is the largest of the five money plaques that were on the stage of the Theatre. It had the names of the five main opera artistes with five thousand-dollar notes attached. A money plaque is flower plaque with money attached which cantonese opera fans give to their favourite artistes to show support, appreciation or adoration. It seems to be unique in Singapore. I have not seen money plaques in Hong Kong or China.

Of the eleven nights I was there, there were money plaques on nine nights. There was even one for the orchestra. Most of them have a $1000-dollar note attached.

Chinese opera fans more patriotic?

Thursday night’s opera by the Guangdong Academy of Cantonese Opera First Troupe was about an emperor who, fearing that his brother would take the throne away from him, schemed to get rid of his brother. His brother was one of those patriots who stuck stubbornly to the belief ‘If the emperor wants his subject to die, then he has to die.’ Though he was aware of the emperor’s intention, he was prepared to die for the sake of the Country.

One opera fan commented that people who watch Chinese operas are more patriotic because in Chinese opera there are many such stories about patriotism and sacrifice for one’s country.

More patriotic? It has very broad meanings.

Perhaps he meant that there are many patriotic people among Chinese opera fans or that the percentage of patriotic people among Chinese opera fans is higher than that of any other fan group.

For the same reason, we can also say that Chinese opera fans are ‘more filial’.

The Wilful Princess

26 March 2005 - Kreta Ayer People's Theatre

Is this Peng Mun’s farewell performance?

It needs great effort for a male to sing in an artificial female voice in a 3-hour long opera. To be honest, I think his voice now has lost the feminine qualities of a ‘hua dan’ – unlike about 10 years ago when he performed with Aw Kai Meng an excerpt from the same opera. I have been watching his performances all along so I got used to the gradual changes. But someone who has not seen him for quite sometime or someone who was seeing him for the first time would find his voice queer. His excellent opera skills could only partly compensate for this. It was a good thing that in this opera there is no second ‘hua dan’ besides the empress who just sang a few lines.

So I think it is good for him to ‘retire’ earlier, at least from full-length operas and leave his fans with fond memories. I wonder if he would consider performing the male role instead. Perhaps, having performed as a ‘nan hua dan’ (female impersonator) for such a long time, the mannerisms of the hua dan are so entrenched in him that he finds it difficult to change roles.

On the whole it was a good show. Chan Fook Hong and Christopher Choo put up great performances. But I think there is no need for so many monks in the last scene. Rather than enhancing the scene, they caused distraction and confusion.

Just my non-professional sincere views; hope Peng Mun's supporters won' t get offended.

My write-up on Aw Yeong Peng Mun:
http://operaartistes.blogspot.com/2009/05/aw-yeong-mun.html

How to increase Singapore's birth rate.

A report in the Sunday Times said that many Singapore men are going to Vietnam to look for wives. An article mentioned one 35-year-old Mr Lee who married a 20-year-old Vietnamese girl. They lead a happy married life and a year after their marriage they are expecting a baby girl in March.

Maybe one way to increase the birth rate of our country is to allow Singapore men to have a second wife from abroad! If the first wife is unable or does not want to have babies after, say, 5 years of marriage; then the man would be allowed to have a second wife. Or even a third wife. The government could also introduce a second-wife tax, a third-wife tax and so on.

The birth rate would rise and government could collect more money! Ha! Ha! Ha!

The Patriotic Princess

16 January 2005, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre

I saw this opera performed by Singaporean artistes in the following years:
1998 by Lou Mee Wah and Li Fung (from HK)
2000 by Chan Fook Hong and Wong Mei Ling
2000 by Wong Kum Yeng and See Too Hoi Siang
2004 by Kong Yew Cheong and Lau Moon Chuin

Besides these I also saw others performed by foreign troupes. But, invariably I find The Patriotic Princess an entertaining opera.

In three of the above shows Christopher Choo played the role of the emperors. So this is the fourth time I watched him at the same role again. I feel that this was his best performance. It would be hard for any local artiste to match up to his performance in this role.

Joanna Wong has good rapport with Ng Yim Hong and with her wide experience, performing 3 of the scenes was a breeze to her. Though her performance was good, I feel that the role of a teenage princess or a young maiden is not suitable for her.

Chen Yin Leng performed 2 scenes. I think this is one of her best performances in recent years. Her passionate rendering of the songs in the scenes was much appreciated by the audience.

One scene was performed by Li Si Yao. According to an opera fan, her acting was fine but her singing was off-style meaning she did not sing it in the Cantonese opera way.

Ng Yim Hong (HK) looked relaxed and at ease with herself throughout the show. I felt that she was taking things too easy.

Just my personal non-professional views. Hope no one gets offended.

Battle at Mount Cockerel

15 January 2005, Kreta Ayer People's Theatre

Favourable points about this show:
Changes of scenes were fast. Duration was slightly less than 3 hours. Opera was performed here for the first, so the plot captured the attention of the audience.

Shortcomings:
Maybe too few rehearsals. Sometimes artistes playing supporting roles appeared hesitant about what to do.

Pang Heng Wah from China looked a little nervous initially. It might be due to his first partnership with a Singapore artiste and that he was performing his first lead role and in front of a Singapore audience. But he soon warmed up and later gave the audience an excellent display of his martial skills.

See Too Hoi Siong has shed off some weight. Another 5 more kg would be fine. Then, she has not only the height but the figure as well. She, too, gave a splendid display of martial skills despite the constraints she faced.

Chan Mei Ling is a good artiste but she seemed to be frowning most of the time. Perhaps she felt tense and the tenseness affected her muscles. If she eases up she would look much more pleasant.

Cheung Seok Lin is a dependable artiste with a pleasing disposition. Glad to see her again performing with Hoi Siong after a lapse of many years.

Leong Kam Fai is the villain in the show. He is a versatile performer who is adept at portraying the good guy as well as the villain.

Christopher Choo and Ellen Li are veterans who often add colour and humour to a show. They did here too.

Cheung Siew Wai always looks calm and steady and she gave a good performance tonight.

I think Kwok Kwong Lun needs to put more effort in his singing and pay more attention to his make-up.

Just my personal, non-professional views. Hope no one gets offended.

Lion City's Cantonese Opera Stars Fund-raising Spectacular.

8 January 2005, Kreta Ayer People's Theatre

Ng Lee Lee managed to get together the main opera groups for this performance which lasted for about 3 hours . It ended around 10.30 which was a good thing as it gave people ample time to go home. Still I saw a few people leaving in the middle of the last excerpt.

There were 5 excerpts. I believe all the performers have put in great effort for the show.

The shortest excerpt was Woman Warriors of the Yang Family. Joanna Wong played the martial role of Muk Kwai Ying. Actually I was worried that at her age of 60+, she would not be able to execute the martial moves or do the fighting part well. It turned out she gave a creditable performance. Her singing was pleasant but sounded weak.

Wu Wai Fong playing the role of Chew Tze Long has a strong voice and performed well but she lacked the height as the formidable warrior. Ng Lee Lee has improved. However, I feel her performance rather bland. I think this excerpt tends to be draggy towards the end.

Lou Mee Wah and her students acted the excerpt Bidding Farewell to Keng Or. I think she performed as expected.

Ling Tung Meng partnered Chee Kin Fun in another excerpt. Tung Meng, with his sound opera training and powerful voice, put up a convincing performance as Chew Tze Long. But he has put on weight. I think his stoutness affected his martial moves and his twists and turns. Chee Kun Fun's voice seemed to have deteriorated and her face looked a little gaunt.

Chik Chew Kuarn is slim and looks pretty in her make-up. She also sings well. Chow Chun Hong looked like the God of Prosperity.

These are just my personal views.

Cantonese Opera in aid of Tsunami victims.