history is fun

Food for thought: Is Chinese street opera a dying performng art in Singapore?

TFU History Project - Finding the Past in the Present - Part 1 (10%)

You are required to complete all the writings and questions to the best of your knowledge for this project. These required writings and questions are structured to guide and keep you aligned with your objective(s). Do consult any of us if you have problem in writing or answering the work assigned below.

1. Write a brief introduction on your selected topic.
2. Write out a list of questions that will help you find out more about your selected topic.
3. What are your assumptions of your selected topic?
4. Describe your research methods.
5. What are your objectives for this project?

Note: You will type out your work in Microsoft Word and submit to your respective teachers by the 27th of July.

Warning: Do not copy and paste from the internet or any books or articles. This is cheating! We can find out very easily, trust us. You may refer to any relevant sources but learn to paraphrase and use your own words as far as possible. At the end of it, write down the list of sources you have referred to so that we know where you get them from. Lastly, if you are guilty of cheating, you will get zero (0) for this section.

To give you a rough idea, we have prepared the following example to guide you through your Part 1. (You may use some of my ideas for your project. It will not be considered as cheating.)

Hi, this is Mr Leo here. I will be researching on Chinese street opera in Singapore.

Chinese Street Opera in Singapore

1. Brief Introduction
Chinese opera is a classic form of entertainment that dates back to the beginning of Chinese history 4,000 years ago. With its cacophonous mix of Chinese musical instruments and different styles of singing, dancing, mime and acrobatics, the Chinese street opera had followed its Chinese immigrants who sojourned to this part of the world as part of their cultural baggage as early as 1842. These opera troupes were mainly from Southern China and their performances were closely linked to religious rituals. Just like the past, the professional troupes of today are profit-oriented, itinerant groups of performers and musicians who perform (at least) twice a day. Often found in car parks, open fields and temple compounds, these opera troupes would pit their stage using stilts and tarpaulin. These performers and musicians, although mostly Singaporeans, there are also some Malaysians, Indonesian Chinese and Thai Chinese. Members of professional opera troupes consist of part-time and full-time performers. Usually, these professional performers have received some form of trainings in their youth and many have had little formal education. At times, these professional opera troupes would even be engaged to perform in neighbouring countries when the businesses in Singapore are brisk.

It is fair to note that the 50 years spanning the last two decades of the 19th century up to the early 1930s marked the golden age of Chinese opera in this region. Partly, it was because of the mass immigration of the Chinese into the Straits Settlements. Secondly, it was because Chinese opera was able to attract the wealthier business class and upper crust of the Chinese community. In present day, as the consumption of entertainment is made possible by the mediation of machines, equipment, technology, science and capitalism, Chinese opera has taken a backseat and finding it hard to survive in this new age society. The rise of the English and Mandarin speaking population, the lack of new blood to be recruited into the troupe and the over-reliance on part-time performers also contributed to a dismay future for the street opera troupes. It is this poignant transformation and the change and continuity of the history and social process of these people as ‘passive victims’ that this research attempts to study.

Note: Your introduction does not have to be this long.

2. List of questions
a) What exactly is Chinese street opera?
b) What are the different types of Chinese street opera?
c) What kind of performances do they put up in the past as well as in the present?
d) Who are the performers in the past and who perform these days?
e) Who watched in the past and who do today?
f) Who employ or engage them to perform?
g) Why they only perform in the street?
h) Why did/do they become performers?
i) Why lesser and lesser people watch them these days?
j) Why they only perform on certain occasions?
k) How were the performers treated and how are they treated today?
l) Where did/do they learn their art?
m) How many Chinese opera troupes are there in Singapore today?
n) Why do they find it difficult to survive these days?

3. My assumptions
a) Chinese street opera is unpopular because nobody understands them and they do not appeal to people of my generation.
b) Chinese street opera will disappear soon.
c) People who perform and watch Chinese street opera are mostly of working class background.
d) Chinese street opera was more popular in the past because there was a lack of other forms of entertainments.
e) Chinese street opera followed the Chinese immigrants to Singapore in the 19th century.
f) Chinese street opera has always been a waste of time and I do not see how it has contributed to the history of Singapore.
g) Chinese streetopera is only performed by the Chinese.
h) Chinese street opera is performed only during Hungry Ghosts Festivals.
i) Chinese street opera has its own superstitions and unique practices which can be of interests to me.
J) Chinese street opera can only be found in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

4. Research Methods
a) First, I will rely on books, newspapers, magazines, related articles and the internet to provide me with background knowledge of what Chinese opera and its history in Singapore is all about. The library and Singapore Archives will be of great help.
b) Second, I study old photographs of Chinese opera from books, internet and maybe even old postcards of Singapore to gain a better insight on Chinese opera in the past.
c) Third, through relevant contact, I will arrange a visit to watch and interview a performer as well as the owner of a troupe.
d) Through the oral history interview, I will learn about Chinese street opera in the past and present. I will also ask my interviewee to predict the future of the art.
e) I will also observe and participate if possible.
f) I will take photographs of the troupe I visit and interpret or infer those photographs I have taken. Then, compare them to the ones of the past and see its change and continuity.
g) Lastly, I will collate all my data and photographs and write a conclusion as well as reflection on Chinese street opera in Singapore.

5. Objectives
a) I would like to learn what Chinese street opera is all about and test whether my assumptions are correct or wrong.
b) I would like to give a voice to the performers so that their stories will be heard through me.
c) I would like to see what are the changes and continuities of Chinese street opera in Singapore.
d) I would like to learn about its contribution to the people in the past and its role to the Chinese community in the present.
e) Lastly, I would like to learn something about Chinese street opera so that I can talk to my grandmother who is interested in it too. : )