02
Singapore Pie 2.0
This Thursday, I watched “If There’re Seasons…” 「天冷就回来」 by the bilingual performance arts group The Theatre Practice (实践剧场). This is the second local production that gave me the misty-eyed experience within a fortnight. (The Thursday before the last, I watched Royston Tan’s 881)
天冷就回来 (If There’re Seasons…)
I received notice of this musical from the Catholic High alumni association mailing list, because Liang Wern Fook (梁文福) was one of our distinguished Old Boy. When I saw the promo poster for “If There’re Seasons…” while queuing up to buy ‘Balls at Old Chang Kee’s, I thought this musical would be but a musical staged to songs written by Liang Wern Fook. I was totally wrong. I failed to note that it was going to be a “The Theatre Practice” production, the legacy of the late Kuo Pao Kun (郭宝崑). And after I saw George Chan (shot to national fame after being one of the judges on the Dance Floor) perform a piece on Channel News Asia’s Prime Time Morning, I was convinced that I shouldn’t miss this musical.
I loved this musical not just for the music, but it’s evocative theme of “homecoming”.
As I sat through the show, memories of my growing up years came flooding back. I didn’t realise that much of the music that accompanied my transition from childhood to late teenage years were penned by Liang Wern Fook. Now that I’m much older, I can appreciate just how beautiful the lyrics were. The words could move you to tears, not in the sad but the touching way (is that what the youth these days call ‘emo‘?) (there’s sub-titling on the side screens). There’s no doubt that Liang Wern Fook is one of Singapore’s poet who should deserve a cultural medallion.
Old Chang Kee’s Corporate Citizenship – giving back to the society that sustained its business
The first act opened with Xiao Jing (小静, played by Magdalene See/施慧玲) reciting E.E Cummings’ poem “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town“, at a cemetery. And the cast set the stage with “某某人住在很那个的小镇”.
And the story begins, following the journey of Ah Le (阿乐, played by George Chan) who left Singapore for New York to find a career in music. Over there, he met another Singaporean Ah Qiang (阿强, played by Sebestian Tan aka Broadway Beng) who’s in the Big Apple to pursue his interest in music. Through him, he got a job at this restaurant where he met other fellow Singaporeans who’re also in the US to realise their dreams.
「天冷就回来」 is a musical that features “Singapore Pie 2.0″ – a Singapore that is all embracing and truly diverse. From a one-size fit all Singapore to a Singapore that accommodates the multitudinous aspirations of the post-modern generation.
新加坡派2.0
Although construed as a tale of romance, the musical explored the question of “home”, the Singaporean identity (and Singlish was mentioned as one of the defining characteristic), as well as the face of new Singapore – in terms of aspirations and lifestyles. Liang Wern Fook’s songs had also been patched to reflect the changed/changing times. And I thought the opening and closing scene, set in a cemetery, couldn’t have been more apt to describe a place where people call home. Because home is not just where we live, it’s also the place where we bury our dead. That’s where memory lives.
Another thing that I liked about this musical is the way it treated the homosexual theme. The ‘gay’ sub-plot doesn’t distract or hijack the discourse of the narrative – simply, it deals with homosexual relationship just like any other heterosexual relationship. In this fictitious piece of work, you have a microcosmic Singaporean society that accepts gay people as a matter of fact.
There was no shocked or ‘disbelief’ reactions from the other characters when Ah Le came out to them that his lover was a guy who’s settled down in New York with his wife. In fact, I found it refreshing when the Dishwashing Auntie (洗碗大婶) told Ah Le to not to go back to his former lover, who’d divorced his wife and came back to look for him. It’s rather amusing when she told Ah Qiang,”我帮你找个更好的男人！” (“I’ll help you for a better guy!”).
And, the gay characters were not at all campy or effeminate pretty boys pandering to stereotypes in the heterosexual world. Ah Qiang looked like someone who could be a lover to another man, as well as a brother to his straight friend (Yes, Ah Le is a straight character, who’s confused about his feelings for this aspiring Broadway actress, Rose)
As the story unfolded, my imagination went astray….
Ah Qiang X Ah Le
If I had my way with the script, I would get it to end in the clichéd happily ever after: Ah Qiang and Ah Le falls in love with each other. I thought Ah Le deserved someone better than Rose.
*koff* I blame these stuff that’s sitting at the back of my trunk:
「I ♥ (those who ♥) ヤオイ」
They’re not mine, but for one of my fujyoshi friends. I’m exchanging those for the Lamento doujinshis that she brought back from Comiket 72. But I digress….
My friends agreed that the show might have fallen apart if not for George Chan’s performance (I would like to add, Sebastian Tan’s too). At some parts of the show during combined vocals, the harmony was out of sync and their vocal quality was uneven. Although the two lead females could ’sing’, they were just singing and didn’t really bring out the ‘feel’ of the songs. Besides, their vocals were a little raw and young. At the back of our minds, we wished that Kit Chan was among the cast – but the female roles wouldn’t be meaty enough for her. George Chan never came across as a cheena-pohpiah, and all of us thought that he’s the jiak kantang type. Yet, he delivered his lines in Mandarin flawlessly – without the English-accent. And his vocals and acting brought out the flavour of Liang Wern Fook’s lyrics.
We loved the supporting cast, such as the Dishwashing Aunty and the Kitchen Uncle – but the one person who stole the limelight was Uncle Cheng (成叔, played by Lim Shieh Yih). His rendition of “天冷就回来” moved my friends to tears. “Uncle Cheng” was the boss of the restaurant – he’s known to be a stern, unsmiling boss. But at heart, he cared a lot for his staff as well as the members of the diaspora living in New York. In the story, he came to New York twenty years ago to seek his dream as a musician. That was revealed during a misunderstanding, when Ah Le lambasted Uncle Cheng as an uncaring person who failed to recognise the dreams and passion of those who worked at his restaurant. Rather, Uncle Cheng was the person who groomed and coached Ah Qiang’s in music. He saw his restaurant not just as a business, but a front for him to help and cultivate the younger generation that has dreams to fulfil.
I can’t help but to think about Ed from Imaginary Friends Studios…(not that their story is similar, but with what Ed and partners are doing with their studio)
绕梁一世
I almost couldn’t make it for the show that evening as I was at a work meeting that ended late. I managed to rush in just after the door shut. My friends tried to point to someone sitting at the row in front of us. That’s Liang Wern Fook. He was sitting inconspicuously with his wife among the audience.
During the intermission, he was at the reception area doing signings of programme books as well as his newly released album collection 「绕梁一世」. This is a fantastic collection of his discography from the 80s till present.
Autographed CD collection 「绕梁一世」
I didn’t hesitate forking out cash to get the boxed set (S$59). There’s six CDs in the collection.
The Best Of
It’s a definitive collection of his works, from those songs that he wrote and performed, to those that he wrote for other artistes, such as Kit Chan.
Earlier, when I was out with my family for lunch, Mom teased that I was so old fashioned in my musical taste. Dad cranked up the volume of the radio as S.H.E’s song (something that has “孔子说” in the lyrics) – he knows their song. Just as I was wondering if I should get tickets for 巫启贤’s (Eric Moo) coming concert, Mom said she’s listening to stuff by Jay Chou and Cao Ge…(I was speechless)
Album Art
It’s not just the beauty of his lyrics, but his works is definitely Singaporean. There’s many references to Singapore, as well as memories of a past Singapore where I grew up. Liang Wern Fook probably isn’t recognised as a “Singapore Brand” outside of the Chinese circles, but for Chinese Singaporeans who grew up in Singapore during the 80s, his works is definitely something that brings us home.
新加坡牌
The economic imperative has always been Singapore’s prime concern for state survival as well as nation building. Now that we’ve gained a certain confidence in our material successes, we should be able to afford to turn our attention to the softer aspect of state/nation building – and that’s beyond solutions which you can throw money at.
Having our own songs, our own popular culture by our own people. These are elements that constitute the social glue, the collective memory that binds us together. Beyond music, it’s high time we have our own homegrown kids’ entertainment. By that, I mean made in/for Singapore animated shows, games and toy lines that would inspire the imaginations of our young generation. Till now, many of us who grew up and are still growing up in Singapore are following the stories of heroes and villains of another culture, be it Japanese or American.
The Otakus of today are the hope of tomorrow. Even with a (eventual) population of 6 million, I’m sure there’s enough of you talents out there to create the dreams that our kids will dream of tomorrow. And don’t let that tomorrow be too far away.
