Ethnic Chinese takes up 70% of Singapore’s population. As ethnic Chinese people in Singapore were mostly from Fujian, Teochew and other southern coastal regions of China, Fujian glove puppetry, Xinghua string puppetry, Teochew iron rod puppetry, and Hainan rod puppetry were brought to Singapore by the immigrants in the 19th century. Singapore experienced large-scale industrialization after the Second World War. The theatre communities, therefore, also flourished during the period. In fact, Singapore took on an important role in preserving traditional Chinese culture in the past. As most of the traditional cultures were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in China, overseas Chinese communities served as the leading force for the preservation of the cultures.
However, the government of Singapore regarded dialects, such as Minnan, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka, as an obstacle to the development of standard English and Chinese in Singapore. A series of Speak Mandarin Campaigns was initiated in 1979. Consequently, traditional puppetry that mainly used dialects was restricted. Religious rituals and festivals decrease due to the urbanization and Westernization of people’s living styles. The blooming of innovative entertainment and media further accelerated the extinction of puppet arts. It was not until the 1990s and early 21st century that traditional puppet troupes were revived with the collaboration of senior puppet masters and puppeteers of the younger generation. Some troupes bring puppetry away from their religious framework to increase the performance opportunities, while others use English to draw more audiences. Additionally, innovation and reformation are also crucial to development.
There is also shadow puppetry in Singapore, influenced mainly by Indonesian Wayang tradition and Chinese traditional shadow theatre. Incorporating local culture, shadow puppetry with Singaporean features was popular around the time of the Second World War. Unfortunately, shadow puppetry gradually disappeared when the last dalang of Singapore passed away in 1985. It was until “The Finger Players” and “Paper Monkey Theatre” were established that shadow puppetry reappeared on the stage.
華裔新加坡人佔其總人口超過七成,由於新加坡華人很大比例來自於福建、潮州等中國南方沿海地區,因此福建布袋戲、興化提線木偶和潮州鐵支木偶戲、海南島杖頭戲也隨移民於十九世紀時傳入。二戰過後的二、三十年間,新加坡經歷大規模的工業化,在產業發展繁盛的情景之下,許多在地戲班也經歷風光歲月。事實上,過去的新加坡對於保存中國傳統偶戲文化有著十分重要的地位。由於眾多的中國傳統文化在文化大革命時候到破壞,海外的華人成為傳承傳統文化的主力。
然而,政府認為閩南語、潮州話、廣東話和客家話等方言限制新加坡英語和標準華語的發展,於是於 1979 年開始一連串的「講華語運動」,以方言為主的傳統偶戲也因此受到限制,而在都市化、西化等生活方式的改變,傳統宗教儀式與慶典減少,加上新興娛樂文化和媒體快速發展,更加速偶戲的消逝。一直到 1990 年代和二十一世紀初期,傳統木偶戲在戲班資深師傅和新生代演師的合作之下,逐漸復甦。有些戲班將木偶戲帶離宗教祭祀的範疇,增加演出場合和機會,也有戲班使用英語演出,以獲得更多的觀眾。此外,木偶戲的創新和改良也十分的重要。
新加坡亦有皮影戲,主要受印尼哇揚和中國影戲傳統影響,並結合在地文化發展出新加坡特色皮影戲,在二戰前後十分受到歡迎。然而,在 1985 年新加坡最後一位皮影戲大師(達郎 dalang)過世後,皮影戲技藝逐漸消失,直到「十指幫」和「猴紙劇坊」的創立,皮影戲才有機會再度出現在舞台上。
參考資料 Reference
Chia, Caroline. “‘NEGOTIATION’ BETWEEN A RELIGIOUS ART FORM AND THE SECULAR STATE.” Asian Ethnology, vol. 76, no. 1, 2017, pp. 117–144.
Fushiki, Kaori, and Robin Ruizendaal. Potehi Glove Puppet Theatre in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Taiyuan Publishing, 2016.
Ong, Amandas. “The Last of Singapore's Chinese Puppet Performers.” Asia Pacific News | Al Jazeera, 18 Mar. 2017, www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/3/18/the-last-of-singapores-chinese-puppet-performers.