China Troupes in the 80s and after

Answers for quiz

The answers given by the two anonymous persons, whom I think are very dedicated Cantonese opera fans, are correct.

1 - Law Ka Yeng, 2 - Wun Fei Yin.



The mid 80s to the 2000s were the golden years for China's Cantonese opera troupes in Singapore. The first Cantonese opera troupe from China came in 1980.


It was the China's Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe.


From the mid 80s more and more troupes from China came to Singapore. On the other hand, troupes from HK became fewer and fewer. The China troupes were also well-received. So, Singapore became a popular destination for China troupes. The popular performance venue was Kreta Ayer People's Theatre.

Some of the troupes came several times during these years. The Foshan Cantonese Opera Troupe came 4 times and holds the record of performing to a full-house theatre for 28 nights in 1991.

Below are some souvenir magazines of performances by China troupes or artistes in the 90s and in 2000s. Most of them were engaged by the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre Foundation.

Foshan Cantonese Opera Troupe (1993) ...


Guangzhou Cantonese Opera First Troupe (1995) ...


Foshan Cantonese Opera Troupe (1998) ...


Zhuhai Cantonese Opera Troupe (1999) ...


The best of China's Cantonese opera artistes to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Kreta Ayer People's Theatre in 2000.


Zhao Qing Cantonese Opera Troupe (2001) ...


Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe (2002) ...


Zhanjiang Cantonese Opera Troupe (2003) ...


Golden Blossom Cantonese Opera Troupe (2005) - the only troupe from Hong Kong ...


Guangdong Cantonese Opera First Troupe (2005) ...


Hong Dou Cantonese Opera Troupe (2007) ...

The Golden Years of ...

... Cantonese Opera in Singapore were probably in the 60s and 70s. In those years, besides performances by active local groups, troupes led by top Hong Kong stars came to Singapore to perform at frequent intervals.

This was what Joanna Wong, well-known Singapore Cantonese Opera personality, said in an introduction to a book. The name of the book and its author are underlined.

All pictures in this post were scanned from the book.

In 1975, HK stars Leong Hon Wai and Chung Lai Yong performed at the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre. Dr Goh Keng Swee, then deputy PM and Defence Minister, was honorary sponsor. Ticket prices from $2 to $8. (A plate of fried kway teow cost 25 cents those days.) Leong Hon Wai passed away just last month at the age of 67. He died from 胰癌.


1966 - Troupe led by Sun Ma Si Zhen and Ng Kwan Lai performed at the National Theatre. The National Theatre has been demolished.


1967 - Mak Beng Weng and Law Yim Heng at the National Theatre.


1976 - Street opera at Lorong 17, Geylang. Top HK stars were Yuen Siu Fai and Leong Chui Fun.


1980 - Street opera at Chinatown celebrating the Seventh Month Festival.


Here is a quiz for you. The pictures below show 8 opera artistes. Besides Leong Sing Bo, I think number 1 and 2 are more familiar to Singapore opera fans. Who are the opera stars numbered 1 and 2?

God works in mysterious ways

I was reading about Dr Seet Ai Mee and her hospice movement in the Sunday papers. She was our first acting female minister. She said, "The funny part of this story is God works in very mysterious ways."

Somehow her remark set me thinking of the presidential election. Is this one of God's mysterious ways?

I look at it this way - the outcome is not bad though the winning margin is as narrow as a hairline. It shows people want a president who is not only able and experienced but who could also connect with the masses.

Looking at it from a positive angle, I believe each of the top two contenders has the support of over 50% of Singaporeans. We can vote for only one candidate but we can support more than one.

virgin chicken at Chinatown

I was looking for something to eat at the Smith Street Food Centre in Chinatown. I saw this virgin chicken stall. I think it is quite new. Business seemed to be good. So I tried its chicken rice - $2.50 a plate. I added a chicken wing, $2 more. The chicken is quite good. But it is the skin that is the tastier part. So, if you are one of those who don't eat the skin, I suggest you go to the stall in the third picture.


This is soya sauce chicken. I already have a post about this stall in this blog. I prefer the virgin chicken.


There are several chicken rice stalls in this centre. This is a popular one.


There are two fried kway teow stalls. This is the stall I prefer.

male chicken in geylang

Last week I noticed this eatery along Geylang Road. It is Rooster Hot Pot or Ji Gong Bao. Maybe it is also the Chong Qing type which is quite popular in some parts of China. I think you can find it in some Singapore food courts too.

For your information:
A male chicken is called a rooster or cock.
A young male chicken is a cockerel, usually under one year old.
A female chicken is a hen.
A young bird is a chick.

Cow meat is beef and pig meat is pork but there is no special word for chicken meat. So, chicken can also means chicken meat, for example, Do you eat chicken?

I was looking for food which uses male chicken meat and found these funny food items - steaming cock, spicy deep frying cock, slaver cock, broiling cock ... If you replace cock with chicken, it sounds better.

嫦娥奔月 - 蔣文端, 白庆贤

I only took the first part of this opera excerpt Chang E flies to the Moon. Unfortunately this clip is marred by people walking in front of my cam. See how many annoying people you can count.

Singapore first

In Chinese, the sound of words is important.

紅梅姊妹 - Hong Mei sisters. Actually Mei should come first because she is the older one, but Mei-Hong doesn't sound nice.

When people mention Singapore with other countries, Singapore always comes first because it sounds better. For example ...

Xin-Zhong (Singapore, China)
Xin-Mei (Singapore, America)
Xin-Yin (Singapore, Indonesia/India)
Xin-Ma-Tai (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand)

紅梅姊妹

Here is a photo and some information about the two lesser-known Bai sisters, 白雪紅, 白雪梅. The older one, 白雪梅, is on the left and the younger one, 白雪紅, is on the right. Don't they look like twins?

早年任劍輝、白雪仙、與(左)白雪梅 , (右)白雪紅 相聚合照


白雪梅、白雪紅是當今香港典堂級名伶白雪仙同父異母的妹妹。戲行中有「小生王」之美譽的白駒榮便是她們的父親 , 白駒榮的行腔是公認為最柔韌有韻味。她們的姊姊白雪仙 , 更飲譽梨園達五十之久 , 白門粵劇藝術家學淵源 , 無庸置疑 , 雖梅紅兩姊妹早移居外國 ,也為傳統粵劇藝術出了分力 , 推廣揚鳴海外 , 亦不失其粵藝水平。

白雪梅的功架 , 唱腔都有乃父之風。至於扮演文武生行當 , 白雪梅說是當年任劍輝鼓勵她嘗試的 , 因她的身高有五呎七吋 , 扮演文武生十分有睇頭 , 於是她努力學習 , 終於把握到這行當的演出特色。

在八十年代後期，白雪梅到美國三藩市留學，開始人生另一頁，1988年她被加拿大溫哥華悅聲劇社聘為導師，從此展開教授粵劇曲藝的生活，並於1992年開設「白雪梅粵劇藝術學校」，成立自己的傳道授藝事業。

白雪紅說出她十年來努力的辛酸 , 道路並不平坦。初來到温哥華 ,創辦了雪紅粵劇藝苑 , 全職的教學生涯 , 演好舞台上的每一個角色與工作目標 , 延續粵劇舞台光輝。她與丈夫女兒都是虔誠基督徒 ,公餘時她樂於參與傳揚福音, 並灌錄過福音 CD 。

白雪紅與胞姊白雪梅倆曾生齟齬 , 有段時期更不相往還 , 只是彼此的性格與觀點不同 , 當年她們在移居加國後 , 自立門户各自授徒 , 之後減少往來 , 久而久之更沒有聯絡。隨着年紀漸長 , 就體驗親情可貴。白雪紅是虔誠基督徒 , 為此誠心禱告 , 盼望與姊能冰釋前嫌 , 近年姊妹倆的關係已有改善。並於白雪梅週年院慶日, 兩姊妹難得同台演出搶傘 一幕。

The three opera sisters

白雪仙, 白雪紅, 白雪梅 - They are sisters.

This is the legendary 白雪仙. I have never seen her perform opera in person. I have also not seen her opera movies in the cinema. It was only later that I saw her operas on video tapes and VCDs.


This is 白雪梅. I saw her perform only once - on 7 December 1999, at the City Hall Auditorium in Central, Hong Kong. That time she sang a song with Chan Ling Yeok, both singing in the male voice. I have quite a good impression of her.


This is 白雪紅. It was last Saturday that I first saw her perform. When I saw her photo outside the theatre, I thought she looks like one HK hua dan. Don't you think she looks like Ng Mei Ying?


During interval I went backstage to see if she looks like the photo outside the theatre. There she was doing a little warming up - flipping, flapping, flicking and twirling the long sleeves of her white costume. It was her performance after the interval. I think you know from her costume what role she would be doing. Right, it is Madam White Snake.

header pictures

A blog header picture tells us much about the blogger's passion, interests or sentiments. However, most bloggers don't restrict their posts to just one topic. Here are some nice header pictures.

Ah, those carefree days


Remembering Times of Your Life


Sentimental about movies and stars of yesteryear


A tourist in her own country


Unbreakable bond with Chinese opera


If only real life were like opera

odd pi dan

The normal colour of a century egg is black. Have you seen one in another colour? Here are two century eggs in two different colours.


The black one was from a pack bought a few days ago. The yellow-brown one was from a previous pack bought one or two months ago. There were 4 eggs in the old pack but the other 3 eggs were black colour. How come different colours?.

國太民安

This dish of abalone and vegetable is called Guo Tai Min An, 國太民安.

The green represents a green peaceful Island of harmony while the abalone means the people not only have enough to eat but they can afford to eat expensive food like abalone.

rare surnames and sluggish computer

Recently I attended a performance. Three of the performers have rare surnames. The performers are 练观妹, 香金枝, 巢紫贞. I think these are their real names

The surnames ...
练, lian - to practice or train
香, xiang - fragrant
巢, chao - nest

Rare, right?


Of late my computer has become sluggish. Maybe some parts are getting old and like an old lady, it cannot move fast. Sometimes it takes a few seconds before it responds to clicks or when opening a program. Sometimes it just hangs for minutes.

During the years I have downloaded quite a number of free softwares some of which I rarely use. Maybe this is one reason - the computer gets too clogged up. Just like the blood vessels get clogged and blood cannot flow smoothly. Probably I also downloaded some irksome spy-wares or viruses. I have an anti-virus software but it doesn't seem to be very effective.

Any suggestions how to make the old lady move faster?


8 August is my friend's birthday. It is a day that is easy to remember. He is a teacher and schools celebrate National Day on this day, so he likes to think that the school is celebrating his birthday too.

Majulah! Shades of patriotism

During this National Day festive period I took a walk around my neighbourhood. Most of the flags were put up by the hardworking RC groups. They also put up flags at a few blocks, especially those facing the roads. Before they did it for my block, about 30% of households at my block display the flag.

Of course putting up the Nation's flag doesn't mean you are patriotic. Nonetheless, it is a thoughtful act, just like it is thoughtful of you to send a birthday card to your friend.

Shades of patriotism around my neigbourhood ........




Macpherson Community Club


A block facing the road



ITE Macpherson


Kong Hwa School




Market at Pipit Road


Market at Circuit Road

blackout

Last week there was a blackout at my block. It happened some time after eleven at night. If I had gone to bed earlier I would not have known that there was a blackout when I woke up the next morning unless I compare the time of the electric clock with the time of my watch.

Since I was awake, I endured a little inconvenience. But it was OK. I had candles, matches, torch-lights and hand fans. In fact I was not too unhappy with the blackout. I had the chance to play with candles and torchlights, something I enjoyed doing in childhood and during camps in school.

An incident like that reminds us how dependent we are on electricity. Without it, a lot of our appliances cannot function and we cannot charge our gadgets.

I don't have gas, charcoal, firewood, tree bark or a stove in my house. If there is power failure I can't even boil water or cook instant noodles.

I am glad there are always people on standby for emergency when we need them.

It is good to let people experience some inconvenience and hardship once in a while. It is a way of reminding them not to take things for granted.