Saturday, July 10, 2010

Chinese Opera in Singapore


In today’s society, Chinese opera is a culture that youths do not appreciate because there are diminishing opportunities to exposure of Chinese opera. There were restrictions on public street performances and street processions to maintain public order. The government implemented the Police and Conservatory Acts in 1856, which is to “restrict assemblies and processions, including wayang (Chinese Opera)”. Hence, it became compulsory for all the organizations to apply the public licensing to perform Chinese opera in public, even till today. Chinese opera is a culture that our youngsters do not get into it. Youngsters these days do not watch this because they do not have the opportunity unless you have to buy a ticket to go to the theatre. Street opera is not as prevalent in Singapore as it used to be. Urbanization has meant that there is less space for street performances which now tend to be limited to temples. The decline of the use of dialects by Singaporean youth means “a sense of alienation from dialect-dependent art forms such as Chinese Opera”. The search for new cultural aesthetic in the 1960s has led the decline of Chinese opera. Leaders of Singapore struggled to build a sense of shared ethnic identity, which led to the valorization of “indoor” amateur opera troupes over “outdoor” professional troupes. Decentralization of Chinese living quarters to multi-ethnic HDB flats forced more non-Chinese speakers in closer proximity, leading to tighter performance regulations issued by the government.

Hence, due to this lack of exposure towards Chinese opera, Singaporean youth are unable to garner an interest in Chinese opera.


Our proposal is to raise awareness to the Singapore teenagers to regain interest in Chinese opera. We will try to raise awareness by giving Singapore teenagers more exposure to Chinese opera. We noted that this could not be forced; hence, we will be using more ‘friendly’ tactics in order to attract their interest once again. Our approaches will appeal to their interest.

The popularity of Chinese opera in Singapore has rapidly dropped and without extra attention or efforts to improve the situation, this traditional art may disappear any sooner.

We feel that this is a pressing issue in the Singapore arts world as Chinese opera represents a vital component of culture. This acts as an important role in our history and defines our identity as a Singaporean.

Chinese opera is perceived as the highest expression of Chinese culture by cultural experts and has come to be regarded as one of many cultural treasures.

Besides being a form of entertainment, Chinese opera reflects Chinese culture and philosophy. Majority of its stories highlight virtues such as loyalty, love and patriotism. Chinese opera also plays an active role in dispensing important messages, especially those pertaining to patriotic values.

It promotes appreciation of the art form among the younger generation and promotes Singapore through Chinese opera to the international stage. Direct involvement in Chinese opera increases a sense of identity and efficacy. Indirect participation in Chinese opera can also build community identity and pride, leading to positive community norms such as diversity, tolerance and free expression. This also improves community image and status. Chinese opera is perceived as the highest expression of Chinese culture by cultural experts and has come to be regarded as one of many cultural treasures. It is known as one of the three main theatrical systems in the world. Hence, Chinese opera is a very important aspect of Chinese culture, and plays a very active role in ensuring the upholding of the Chinese cultural aspect.

We chose this issue on the loss of interest in Chinese opera because other forms of performing arts (Chinese dance, Chinese orchestra) and visual arts (Chinese calligraphy) promoting the Chinese culture have been already attempted or at least the problem has been tackled more than that for Chinese opera.

Our proposal is to raise awareness to the Singapore teenagers to regain interest in Chinese opera. We will try to raise awareness by giving Singapore teenagers more exposure to Chinese opera. We noted that this could not be forced; hence, we will be using more ‘friendly’ tactics in order to attract their interest once again. Our approaches will appeal to their interest.

This online portal has interactive lessons on the history and important information like the props and costumes involved in Chinese opera. It will also contain pictures of Chinese opera. Additionally, short clips of Chinese opera will be uploaded onto the online portal for students to watch. We will explain and describe the different types of opera.