Performing for gods and ghouls
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The Star Newspaper
Tuesday August 16, 2005
Lim praying before the start of a show.She was ill and her beloved husband was penniless. She grimaced while pondering her predicament, then raised her sonorous voice and let out her emotions woefully.
Lim Nga Lee, in her 40s, was neatly made up with white and pink powder. Her blue costume swayed as she took slow steps on the stage. She glanced around the temporary prayer hall with her thickly lined eyes in the hazy afternoon. There was no audience.
That did not dampen her spirit. With respectable professionalism, Lee and her team of Chinese opera artistes gave their best in the two-hour show held at Taman Fadason, Jinjang Utara in conjunction with the Hungry Ghost Festival celebrations.
Oldest troupe member, Lim Ah Boon, 65, also plays the erhu.“It’s slightly upsetting because there is usually only a small audience,� Lee admitted after the performance.
“But then again, we are performing for gods and ghosts. They are watching, we mustn’t deliver a sloppy show,� she said.
Lee is one of the nine artistes and musicians that make up Jian Yu Lin Chinese opera troupe from Pandamaran, Klang. They are performing at nine venues in various parts of the country during the Seventh Lunar Month, and were only in Pandamaran for three days.
It is their busiest month, but it is not the only time of the year they work, according to troupe leader Tan Chong, 53.
On other months, they are invited by temples to hype up religious celebrations, and by families wanting to entertain their ancestors as an act of filial piety.
He said that contrary to popular misconception, about 90% of these stage performers worked on a full-time basis. “They don’t have other day jobs,” he stressed.
The troupes, in general, are paid RM1,000 to RM1,800 per day. Bookings have to be made directly with them one year in advance. Artistes receive salaries between RM40 and RM70 per day depending on their experience.
Audience’ response is usually cool, but to Tan, there is always a demand for these shows as temples and religious celebrations are aplenty in Malaysia.
Tan is worried that soon there will be no one staging the shows as the performers are ageing and the younger set is not interested in the art.
This also makes the troupe members very versatile, switching roles from artistes to musicians.
“We used to have big groups of audience, it’s a stark contrast to what we see today,” said bubbly Koh Chu Hong, 43, the youngest artiste in the troupe.
“We have no choice but to accept reality. It’s a dying art, not many people are fond of it nowadays.
But we take it seriously, because we are performing to gods and ghosts,” she said.
Koh is passionate about the job she has held for two decades. She does it on a full-time basis, putting on heavy make-up and elaborate costumes for more than 200 days a year. The Johor-born single mother of three teenagers travels around the country, and enjoys it.
“I love travelling here and there. I’ve loved the art ever since I watched it for the first time when I was a teenager. I thought the women look very pretty on stage? I guess that’s why I fell for it,” she said.
Koh joined the troupe and spent three years to learn the necessary skills from a master, including voice, script, step, posture and gesture.
She has played numerous roles, women of all ages and from various backgrounds.
The troupe has a repertoire of close to 100 plays, its artistes have to know every scene of each play like the back of their hands, if not every dialogue.
They seldom rehearse, and perfect their skills through frequent performance. However, “you have to have a strong memory, and need to be good at improvisation”, Koh said.
The oldest in the troupe, Lim Ah Boon, 65, has dedicated five decades to the art. It has helped him raise his two children.
He used to play soldier, general and fighter who had to somersault on stage. Now his roles are limited to that of father or grandfather, and he often has to play the erhu (Chinese string instrument played with a bow) at the side of the stage.
“It’s tiring to travel here and there, but what can I do, I need to earn money as I don’t want to burden my children,” Lim said with toothless grin.
The artistes unanimously said they had not encountered anything weird during their shows.
“We pray at the start of every show to inform the gods and ghosts what we are up to. We are doing something for them (spirits), they won’t give us a hard time.
There’s no reason to be scared, we’re doing good deeds,” Tan said.
“We are entertaining them, they won’t scare us,” Lim added.
Chinese opera shows in conjunction with Hungry Ghost Festival are usually held at 2pm to 4pm and 8pm to 11pm. Many a time, the evening sessions are held earlier, to make way for karaoke performances.
@Ajeyya wrote:
😆 that’s why it’s important for him to stay off the 8kg until i turn up. otherwise, right after the deal he’ll be inflated once more. and this is also one of the many reasons i’m putting off coming to singapore until 3rd quarter of the year next year, so that it becomes his habit to stay slimmer and enjoy it until he has no desire to rebuild his bulk. 😆 that’ll keep him healthy, very healthy.
2days wrkout was gd. 2 hrs in gym. he was very hardwerkin. great thing is dat he finally settled(aftr persuaded til i got no mor saliva) wif wat i ate: ikan porridge 😆 4 dinner.
readi, steadi…not pun peepee lah…its MAKANin looorrrr 😆
still tuckin in…d contents in d bowl contains lotsa green so its gd 4 d body n spirit! keep munchin…
n tis is wat he quenched his thirst…its GREEN again…he’ll turned in2 incredible HULK pretty soon 😈
overall verdict: gd workout. gd meal. healthy…very healthy… 😀
hope his stomach is not groanin 4 food @ nite latr…i feel like i’m bloggin nw…sry folks if onli there’s a backyard 4 d interns 2 thrash toks.
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The Star Newspaper
Tuesday August 16, 2005
Lim praying before the start of a show.She was ill and her beloved husband was penniless. She grimaced while pondering her predicament, then raised her sonorous voice and let out her emotions woefully.
Lim Nga Lee, in her 40s, was neatly made up with white and pink powder. Her blue costume swayed as she took slow steps on the stage. She glanced around the temporary prayer hall with her thickly lined eyes in the hazy afternoon. There was no audience.
That did not dampen her spirit. With respectable professionalism, Lee and her team of Chinese opera artistes gave their best in the two-hour show held at Taman Fadason, Jinjang Utara in conjunction with the Hungry Ghost Festival celebrations.
Oldest troupe member, Lim Ah Boon, 65, also plays the erhu.“It’s slightly upsetting because there is usually only a small audience,� Lee admitted after the performance.
“But then again, we are performing for gods and ghosts. They are watching, we mustn’t deliver a sloppy show,� she said.
Lee is one of the nine artistes and musicians that make up Jian Yu Lin Chinese opera troupe from Pandamaran, Klang. They are performing at nine venues in various parts of the country during the Seventh Lunar Month, and were only in Pandamaran for three days.
It is their busiest month, but it is not the only time of the year they work, according to troupe leader Tan Chong, 53.
On other months, they are invited by temples to hype up religious celebrations, and by families wanting to entertain their ancestors as an act of filial piety.
He said that contrary to popular misconception, about 90% of these stage performers worked on a full-time basis. “They don’t have other day jobs,” he stressed.
The troupes, in general, are paid RM1,000 to RM1,800 per day. Bookings have to be made directly with them one year in advance. Artistes receive salaries between RM40 and RM70 per day depending on their experience.
Audience’ response is usually cool, but to Tan, there is always a demand for these shows as temples and religious celebrations are aplenty in Malaysia.
Tan is worried that soon there will be no one staging the shows as the performers are ageing and the younger set is not interested in the art.
This also makes the troupe members very versatile, switching roles from artistes to musicians.
“We used to have big groups of audience, it’s a stark contrast to what we see today,” said bubbly Koh Chu Hong, 43, the youngest artiste in the troupe.
“We have no choice but to accept reality. It’s a dying art, not many people are fond of it nowadays.
But we take it seriously, because we are performing to gods and ghosts,” she said.
Koh is passionate about the job she has held for two decades. She does it on a full-time basis, putting on heavy make-up and elaborate costumes for more than 200 days a year. The Johor-born single mother of three teenagers travels around the country, and enjoys it.
“I love travelling here and there. I’ve loved the art ever since I watched it for the first time when I was a teenager. I thought the women look very pretty on stage? I guess that’s why I fell for it,” she said.
Koh joined the troupe and spent three years to learn the necessary skills from a master, including voice, script, step, posture and gesture.
She has played numerous roles, women of all ages and from various backgrounds.
The troupe has a repertoire of close to 100 plays, its artistes have to know every scene of each play like the back of their hands, if not every dialogue.
They seldom rehearse, and perfect their skills through frequent performance. However, “you have to have a strong memory, and need to be good at improvisation”, Koh said.
The oldest in the troupe, Lim Ah Boon, 65, has dedicated five decades to the art. It has helped him raise his two children.
He used to play soldier, general and fighter who had to somersault on stage. Now his roles are limited to that of father or grandfather, and he often has to play the erhu (Chinese string instrument played with a bow) at the side of the stage.
“It’s tiring to travel here and there, but what can I do, I need to earn money as I don’t want to burden my children,” Lim said with toothless grin.
The artistes unanimously said they had not encountered anything weird during their shows.
“We pray at the start of every show to inform the gods and ghosts what we are up to. We are doing something for them (spirits), they won’t give us a hard time.
There’s no reason to be scared, we’re doing good deeds,” Tan said.
“We are entertaining them, they won’t scare us,” Lim added.
Chinese opera shows in conjunction with Hungry Ghost Festival are usually held at 2pm to 4pm and 8pm to 11pm. Many a time, the evening sessions are held earlier, to make way for karaoke performances.
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@Ajeyya wrote:
😆 that’s why it’s important for him to stay off the 8kg until i turn up. otherwise, right after the deal he’ll be inflated once more. and this is also one of the many reasons i’m putting off coming to singapore until 3rd quarter of the year next year, so that it becomes his habit to stay slimmer and enjoy it until he has no desire to rebuild his bulk. 😆 that’ll keep him healthy, very healthy.
2days wrkout was gd. 2 hrs in gym. he was very hardwerkin. great thing is dat he finally settled(aftr persuaded til i got no mor saliva) wif wat i ate: ikan porridge 😆 4 dinner.
readi, steadi…not pun peepee lah…its MAKANin looorrrr 😆
still tuckin in…d contents in d bowl contains lotsa green so its gd 4 d body n spirit! keep munchin…
n tis is wat he quenched his thirst…its GREEN again…he’ll turned in2 incredible HULK pretty soon 😈
overall verdict: gd workout. gd meal. healthy…very healthy… 😀
hope his stomach is not groanin 4 food @ nite latr…i feel like i’m bloggin nw…sry folks if onli there’s a backyard 4 d interns 2 thrash toks.
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