Puppet making and Performance
Origins of Chinese Puppeteering
The Chinese who arrived as immigrants from the southern Chinese provinces during the late 19th century, preserved many elements of Chinese puppet theatre that have become almost extinct in their country of origin due to the brutal effects of the Cultural Revolution. They then introduced these cultures into Singapore, and it is now being known as puppet making and performance.
What is Puppeteering?
A puppet troupe would have puppeteers that use rods and strings to manipulate an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. During the performance they also narrate a story for the audience to hear, mainly in the southern Chinese languages of Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka.
Puppeteering, the fading art form
" We now have five or six regular performers left. One died recently, and after the rest of us go, nobody will know the art of Chinese puppetry in Singapore anymore"
YEO LYE HOE, A 67-YEAR-OLD TROUPE LEADER
Dialects are gradually becoming extinct in Singapore. In 1979, the government became convinced that the use of southern Chinese languages such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka – which were the lingua franca of the very first Chinese immigrants in Singapore – was preventing Singaporeans from achieving full bilingualism in English and standard Mandarin Chinese. For more than 30 years, the Speak Mandarin Campaign heavily discouraged the use of these southern Chinese languages in the popular media, particularly on television and radio. Today, few young people can claim to understand simple phrases in their grandparents’ language, let alone comprehend complex narratives sung over two hours during puppet performances.
A PUPPET TROUPE TO EXPLORE
Sin Hoe Ping, one of the last puppet troupes still active in Singapore
Sin Hoe Ping is one of the last Chinese puppet troupes active in Singapore, and the very last troupe performing in the Henghua language, spoken by those with ancestral roots in Putian, a part of Fujian Province in China.
Frequently sidelined for the more flamboyant sensibilities of Chinese opera, these puppet troupes are something of an anomaly in cosmopolitan Singapore. Rooted in ancient folk religion, they appear almost to be vestiges of the past that have stubbornly survived to challenge the modern skyscrapers and apartment blocks that are crammed across the tiny island country.
Contact: sinhoepingpuppet@gmail.com