Ini Indexs
Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) is also known as dongji (the peak of winter), dongjie (winter festival), hedong (celebrating winter), and yasui (little new year). It is the 22nd of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, and usually falls in the middle of the 11th lunar month. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually falls a few days before Christmas, between 21 and 23 December.
The Winter Solstice is said to herald the arrival of spring. In ancient times, it was regarded as the beginning of a new year, hence the saying dong daguo nian (the Winter Solstice is more important than New Year’s Day) or feidong shounian (more gifts are given on the Winter Solstice than New Year’s Day).1
The celebration of the Winter Solstice began in the Zhou dynasty, more than 2,500 years ago, when the 11th month of the Xiali (the predecessor of the lunar calendar) was designated as the beginning of the year. As described in the Book of Han: Astronomy, “The Winter Solstice happens when the Sun is at Altair, when the Earth’s pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun, hence the shadow cast by the sundial is long.”2The sundial was used in ancient times to determine the distance and position of the Sun, so people could tell that the Sun was at its southernmost point, causing the shadow to be at its longest during the Winter Solstice.
To explain using modern science, the Winter Solstice is when the Sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn and the day is at its shortest while the night is at its longest in the northern hemisphere. After the Winter Solstice, the Sun begins to move north, and the day gradually gets longer, temperatures start to rise and new life begins to grow.
During the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220), the Winter Solstice was known as dongjie (winter festival). Official celebrations and rituals were held, and family and friends visited each other with food gifts in a custom known as hedong (celebrating winter). During the Six Dynasties period (220 – 589), rituals to pay respect to ancestors were added, and from then on ancestral rites during the Winter Solstice became a common practice. The custom was recorded in a Song dynasty memoir Dongjing meng hua lu (The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendour): “The Winter Solstice in the 11th month is the most important festival in the capital, even the poor save throughout the year to buy new clothes, prepare food and drinks, worship their ancestors; the officials open their gates, celebrate and exchange greetings, just like during the New Year.”3
As Singapore does not have four seasons and has never experienced freezing winters, the Winter Solstice Festival has taken on a different meaning, becoming a day of reunion and remembrance of our ancestors. More than 100 years ago, the local English language newspapers had published articles introducing the significance of the day to English readers, showing the cultural importance of the day to the ethnic Chinese community.4 Among the Chinese festivals celebrated locally, Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival share the same significance of family reunion as Winter Solstice Festival.
In the past, the local Chinese community was largely made up of migrants from the southern Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, who had a tradition of eating tangyuan or sweet glutinous rice balls on the Winter Solstice. They were known as tuanyuanzi, symbolising family reunion.5 The traditional sweet glutinous rice balls are pink and white, with fillings of black sesame, peanut and red bean paste.
In the few days before the Winter Solstice, glutinous rice flour is sold, usually at stalls that also sell tofu and bean sprouts. On the evening of the day itself, families gather to prepare the sweet glutinous rice balls together and a little rock sugar or brown sugar is added to taste. Longan, red dates, slab sugar and pandan leaves are boiled together to make a soup base for the sweet glutinous rice balls. Today, most people choose to buy pre-packed tangyuan for convenience. The elderly in the family will often first serve tangyuan to the ancestors, before everyone eats them, to thank the ancestors for their blessings throughout the year.
The origins of eating tangyuan during Winter Solstice can be traced back to a folk tale about a father and daughter who arrived in a small town in Fujian — where the daughter was to stay on and work as a maid. Before leaving, the father made a sweet glutinous rice ball and they each ate half, promising to eat a whole one when they reunited. On the next Winter Solstice, the daughter made two large sweet glutinous rice balls and stuck them at the door, and her father came as promised. The touching story soon spread, and from then on, families would stick sweet glutinous rice balls on their doors or windows to symbolise reunion and happiness.6
Over the past four decades, as more and more immigrants from all over China moved to Singapore, traditions from northern China have also become popular in Singapore. As the Chinese sayings go, “Winter is harsh on the elderly” and “If you don’t eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice, your ears will freeze and fall off”, northerners have a custom of eating jiaozi or dumplings during the Winter Solstice. This custom is said to have originated during the Eastern Han dynasty, when the charitable master physician Zhang Zhongjing (c. 150–219) treated the sick and saved lives.
Once, on his way back to his hometown, Zhang came across many people with frostbitten ears, so he came up with a formula for treating the condition on the Winter Solstice – wrapping mutton and other warming medicinal herbs in dough in the shape of an ear. He cooked the dumplings and served them to the locals, and from then on it became a tradition to eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice to remember his kindness.
Northern Chinese also have the tradition of eating mutton and drinking mutton soup to ward off cold on the Winter Solstice. Some local restaurants have also started offering mutton hotpot to satisfy the appetites of their homesick customers.
In Singapore, some charity organisations distribute gifts to underprivileged elderly and children in December, giving a charitable meaning to the festival. In ancient China, when the Winter Solstice arrived, some wealthy families would give out food to the poor at their doorstep or in their ancestral hall or a temple, and blankets to keep the needy warm.7 Evidently, the Winter Solstice Festival is not merely a time to feast on sweet glutinous rice balls or dumplings and pay respect to our ancestors, but also a time for charity.
While life today is very different from the past, many people still hold the Winter Solstice traditions close to their hearts. Families still gather on the Winter Solstice to eat tangyuan and share photos and festive greetings via social media and text messages.
Ini Indexs
The Qixi Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year, typically calls to mind the legend of the cowherd and weaver girl meeting on a bridge of magpies. It is also the day when women traditionally prayed to the weaver girl (the seventh daughter of the Heavenly Jade Emperor) for a quick mind and deft fingers. That is why this festival is also known as qiqiaojie (the festival of praying for nimbleness). From the 1930s to the 1970s, the Qixi Festival was widely celebrated by Singapore’s Cantonese community, with other dialect groups also joining in the festivities. The local Cantonese community also called this festival qijiedan (Seven Sisters Festival), and the celebrations were known as yinhehui (Milky Way celebrations) or qijiehui (Seven Sisters celebrations).
During the Song dynasty, the Qixi Festival celebrations at Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng in Henan) lasted for a week.1 In the Guangdong region, the festival was widely celebrated from the Song dynasty to the Qing dynasty.2In the early years of the Republican era in China, single women in Guangdong towns and villages would display their handicrafts during the festival and perform rituals such as collecting water at dawn and threading needles by moonlight.3 When Cantonese women migrated to Nanyang (Southeast Asia), they brought this custom with them. Celebrations for the Qixi Festival were comparable to those for Chinese New Year in early-day Chinatown when it was an enclave for Cantonese migrants.
To give a sense of the scale of celebrations and prevalence of participation, there were more than 10,000 people in Chinatown who were part of Milky Way Associations (editor’s note: groups of people who came together to organise Qixi celebrations) during the 1950s.4They included:
The majie are keen celebrants of the Qixi Festival and would personally make items as offerings. Items such as the Seven Sisters basin, clothes and water are essential parts of the celebrations. Other common offerings include flowers, fruit, pressed powders, Florida Water perfume, lipsticks, needles and thread, combs, gift baskets, longevity buns and more. Some majie would also buy gold jewellery to place on the offering tables and give them as gifts to their adopted daughters or other majie after the ceremony.
The Milky Way Association at 51A Kreta Ayer Road is one of the earliest of its kind in Singapore. In the early 1970s, the Shun Tak Kong Mei Sar Khai Wong Clan Association moved out of the premises and a group of majie moved in. From then on, between the sixth and the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, members of the public were welcomed to observe their Qixi Festival celebrations. Life-size statues of the Seven Sisters, adorned with phoenix headpieces and colourful dresses embroidered with pearls and sequins, are placed around the hall. Embroidered purses, folding screens, origami items, flower baskets and clay figurines of folk tales and other exquisitely crafted objects are also displayed.
Separately, at the Singapore Sar Pho Clansmen Association’s celebrations on 25 Kreta Ayer Road, the highlight was a tower stack of offerings: the structure is first made from paper rolls, with grains of glutinous rice, red beans, green beans and sesame seeds stuck on individually. Rice seedlings, wheat straw and Seven Sisters pastries are also displayed for good luck.
Today, as Singapore redevelops, celebrations of the Qixi Festival have become less common. In China, the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) also put a stop to the customs for some time. But women like the majie brought the traditions back to their hometown when they returned to China from Singapore. As a result, the Qixi Festival celebrations in mainland China today are imbued with Singaporean flavour. In Singapore, there are increasing efforts to revive this festival. In addition to seminars, workshops and performances in recent years, a Qixi Fest was also held in Chinatown from 2023, injecting new life into old traditions through a variety of events.
Ini Indexs
Lee Yuk Chuan was born in 1933 in Hong Kong to parents from Xinhui, Guangdong. Both his father and maternal grandfather were Cantonese opera actors,1 and he moved with his parents to Singapore when he was very young.
His musical career spans more than half a century, and Lee remains active in the local choral scene. He is currently the President of Choral Association (Singapore), Honorary President of the Musicians Society of Singapore, Honorary Life President of the Association of Composers (Singapore), and Resident Conductor of the Melo Art Choir. He had previously studied violin under musicians2 including Goh Boon Eng, B. A. Bacsafra, and Susheela Devi, as well as vocal music under Chen Li Ching. He also studied conducting under Israeli musician Shalom Ronly-Riklis (1922–1994).
Lee’s music career began early in 1952, when he joined the Rediffusion Choir as a tenor. In 1959, he became the conductor of Metro Philharmonic Choir, which he co-founded with well-known composer Leong Yoon Pin (1931–2011). The following year, he conducted the alumni choir and Chinese orchestra of the Chinese Industrial and Commercial Continuation School (now known as Gongshang Primary School). Around the 1970s, he became the conductor of the choir under the Ministry of Defence’s Music and Drama Company, SAFRA’s (Singapore Armed Forces Reservist Association) mixed orchestra, People’s Association’s Choir, and the National Theatre Company Choir (renamed Melo Art Choir after the company was disbanded). He also led the Melo Art Choir and the alumni choir of the Chinese Industrial and Commercial Continuation School to perform in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia on multiple occasions.
In 1980, Lee joined the Singapore Composers’ Association as a member of its executive committee, and became its president in 1982. Besides promoting local Chinese choral music and composition, Lee, a violin teacher himself, also founded the Lee Yuk Chuan String Ensemble. He led the group on performing tours in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and was also often invited to judge vocal music competitions in Singapore, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia, including inter-school competitions in Hong Kong. In 1997, he planned a concert in Beijing featuring works by Singapore composers, and organised many international choral and vocal music competitions. Lee made many contributions to the music scene in Singapore and Malaysia, and was conferred the Public Service Medal in 2001. He was also conferred the Meritorious Award by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore Ltd (COMPASS) in 2002, and the COMPASS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. In 2018, he was awarded the Singapore Chinese Cultural Contribution Award from the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre.
The self-taught composer, whose technique and expression were mainly of the Romantic style, was likely influenced and shaped by Singapore’s cultural milieu in the earlier days. Lee’s musical creations are mainly vocal works, and he has released three collections of songs. His compositions for solo and choral performances include Chuangwai meigui hua nufang (Roses in Full Bloom outside My Window), Jinri wo you kanjian le ni (I Saw You Again Today), Wo ai (I Love), Heping de gesheng zuixiang (Song of Peace is Sung the Loudest), Taiyang a, weihe nibu xiexie (Sun, How About a Break), Caihong (Rainbow), Chunhui dadi (Spring Returns to Earth), Wanli lübo fan bailang (Boundless Blue Waves with White Sprays), Dafeng chui (The Wind Blows), Xinjiapo he, muqin de he (Singapore River, Our Mother), Weiguo jun song (Ode to the Defence Forces, lyrics by Huang Hongxia), Renren doushuo jinnian hao (Everybody Says This Is A Good Year, lyrics by Xin Xin), Hongjinnü gongge (Song of the Red-Scarved Women Workers, lyrics by Wang Qiutian), Laodong zhige (Labour Song), Qianjin ba, wode guojia (Forward My Country). Lee also composed music for Singapore’s first Chinese-language opera Lingzhi guniang (Lingzhi Girl), children ballet performance Jiaoao de qingwa (Proud Frog), dance performance Guitu saipao (The Tortoise and the Hare) and string ensemble Eastern Fantasia and Lingzhi Capriccio.
Ini Indexs
Born in Singapore, Chew Seok Kwee (1954–2013) went to Nanyang Primary School and St Nicholas Girls School, and studied the piano under Ng Chiau Kong (1932–2022).1 At 13, Chew attended the dance and drama courses offered by the Singapore Performing Arts School (now The Theatre Practice), and later became an accordion instructor at the school. Besides western instruments such as the piano and accordion, she also took lessons on Chinese instruments such as the erhu, sanxian, and guzheng.2
In 1978, Chew, whose father Chew Choo Keng (1916–2001) founded Khong Guan Biscuit Factory, furthered her studies first at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and later the Manhattan School of Music in the United States. She spent a total of six years in the United States and Europe, and graduated with a doctorate degree in piano performance. On her return to Singapore, she took up the position of music director at the Singapore electronics company Creative Technology until her retirement in 2012.
Chew’s musical works boast a distinctive flavour, comprising both Chinese and Malay music elements organically blended into an integrated whole. These regional characteristics in such original artistic expression could have been created only by someone native to the land. This could well be what has come to be known popularly as the “Nanyang flavour”. Chew’s style could have been influenced by her experience at the Singapore Performing Arts School, where musicians and choreographers created works based on resources they collected on their frequent trips to Malaysia. They gained authentic experience by living and working among fishermen and farmers there as a way to enrich their creative works.
During her stint as music director at Creative Technology, Chew continued to inject her multicultural sensitivity into the development of Chinese SoundFont, which could be incorporated in its Sound Blaster, enabling composers to create Chinese music or include Chinese musical elements when creating music on the computer.3
Chew’s creative heyday was in the early 1970s, when she was barely 20. Her output was prolific and her works were widely sung and performed, making her a notable figure in local music writing in the 1970s. During this period, songs that she wrote individually or in a group led by her included Hongmianhua kai (Kapok Flowers in Bloom); Lachang sangzi jiaomai mian (Shouting Loudly to Sell Noodles); Wanzhang haoqing xiangqianjin (Forward with Hearts Full of Passion); Yucun zuge (Fishing Village Suite), with Yufu qu [Fishermen’s Song]; Yisuo yiluo ji xintou [Remember Every Effort]; Ding jiao shenghuo biange yang [Our Life Must Change]; Fengyu li wenba duo [Steering Firm in the Storm]; Shuguangli [In the Morning Light]; Linming zuge (Sungai Lembing Suite), including Linming — Women de jiaxiang [Sungai Lembing – Our Home], Linming de heshui xi you chang [The River of Sungai Lembing is Long and Narrow], Huainian jiaxiang [Thinking of Home], and Linming hepan gesheng yang [Singing by Sungai Lembing]; and Huangliyuan zuge (Pineapple Plantation Suite), including Chang lixiang [Singing about Pineapple Country], Pan fengshou [Wishing for a Bumper Crop, music by Liu Minghui], Fengshou de shihou [Harvest Time], Lixiang ku [Sorrow of Pineapple Country], and Wei lixiang de mingtian er gechang [Singing for the Future of Pineapple Country].
Apart from songs, Chew wrote music for dance dramas such as Jiutiao chuan (Nine Boats, lyrics by Kuo Pao Kun, 1973), Xiaonühai shalina (The Talisman, 1997), as well as piano solos Yingchun qu (Welcoming Spring), Shanhu song (Ode to the Corals), Dang chunnuanhuakai de shihou (When Spring is Here), and a double piano piece Fenggang de shihou (When the Harbour is Closed).
Ini Indexs
Singapore’s Chinese evening papers, also known as tabloids, generally refer to newspapers that are compact in size and content. They are either not published daily, or are printed later in the day, usually in the afternoon or evening. Some might be published every two or three days, or even weekly.
These newspapers differ significantly from morning dailies in terms of readership and content. They target the general public with articles that are entertaining and easy to read. This would often include news on entertainment, bread-and-butter issues, strange happenings, crime and court, accidents, and calamities. Being smaller in size, they typically focus on short articles and commentaries that catch readers’ attention.
Before the advent of mobile phones and digital media, evening papers enjoyed wide popularity in Singapore. They were quick to publish winning 4-D lottery numbers and horse-racing results, and often featured expert analyses on horse races — which was why these tabloids were also commonly called maa biu bou (“lottery newspaper” in Cantonese).
In the 1950s, tabloids were discontinued in Singapore, and the island did not see another evening paper until Min Pao was published in the 1960s. The two most notable ones that followed were Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Wanbao.
Min Pao, the first tabloid to be launched after the People’s Action Party (PAP) came into power, was published on 19 March 1960. It was founded by Lai Kok Wah (1916–2017), Ong Chu Meng, Huang Quanhe (c. 1908–1970), and Huang Kemei (1915–1961). Lai was president, while Huang Kemei served as editor-in-chief. When it was launched, the paper only consisted of a single page and was delivered every three days. A half or full page was later added after the paper gained popularity and came to be issued every other day.
Min Pao was published by Singapore Publishing Co. Ltd., a company that was established shortly after the PAP came to power in 1959. Its editorial office was in 158 Cecil Street, the former site of Sin Pao, the newspaper founded by Fu Wu Mun (1892–1965).
Huang Kemei, the editor-in-chief of Min Pao, was a talented Teochew man and had previously been the editor of both Sin Pao and Petir Weekly. He joined Min Pao in 1960 as its chief editor, but died the following year. The position remained vacant for a long time until Tay Bon Hoi took over in May 1964. Even though Min Pao then only published every two days, its content was similar to that of a major daily paper. Its editorials declared that it “spoke from the nation’s standpoint and took the nation’s interests to be its own”. The paper’s supplements, Wen Yi (Arts and Literature) and Min Feng (Folkways), mainly featured literary and other general works. To attract more readers, it also published serialised novels such as Jin Yong’s The Return of the Condor Heroes and Liang Yusheng’s Sanhua Nüxia.
As sales continued to climb, Lai Kok Wah decided to publish Min Pao daily. After much preparation, the paper transited to a daily newspaper on 19 March 1966 — its sixth anniversary. A printing press in Kuala Lumpur was also set up to print Min Pao for daily distribution.
In 1971, Min Pao acquired a rotary printing press to cope with its growth in business. On 27 December 1979, publication was suspended by the Ministry of Culture for publishing articles that sensationalised sex. After submitting a proposal to the ministry outlining how it planned to reform its content, the paper was allowed to resume distribution on 9 January 1980. Min Pao continued to be published until 5 August 1984, when it ceased operations due to poor management. By then, the newspaper had been in circulation for a total of 24 years between 1960 and 1984.
Shin Min Daily News (or simply known as Shin Min) was founded on 18 March 1967 as a joint venture between Jin Yong (Louis Cha Leung-yung, 1924–2018), who wrote Chinese martial arts novels and was the president of Hong Kong’s Ming Pao; and Leung Yun Chee (1897–1971), the Singapore merchant whose company produced Axe Brand medicated oil. They each held a 50% stake in the newspaper, with Jin Yong helming the editorial board.
The newspaper’s office was in 7 Davidson Road. This was the site that New Life Daily News (1961–1966), also founded by Leung Yun Chee, had rented from a dairy factory after it relocated from Johor Baru to Singapore in 1962. Leung was very experienced in running newspapers: he had run Kuai Huo Bao between 1953 and September 1955, followed by Gong Shang Bao in June 1956. Both of those papers were published every three days.
At the time of its founding, Shin Min’s board of directors was chaired by Leung Yun Chee, while Jin Yong was president. The editor-in-chief was Poon Kit Foo (birth and death years unknown), the director of finance was Leong Heng Keng (1929–2018), and the general manager was Lu Shangxing (c. 1910s–1972). Jin Yong had also brought two staff with him from Hong Kong: Poon Yuet-sang, the former chief editor of Ming Pao, who took charge of the editorial department as executive editor-in-chief; and Zhu Zhiqing, who served as the paper’s manager.
The inaugural issue of Shin Min consisted of six broadsheets. More than 10,000 copies were printed and distributed for free to newspaper vendors who then sold them to readers. The papers were sold out in just a few hours. In a congratulatory message on the front page, Othman Wok (1924–2017), Singapore’s then-Minister for Social Affairs, said: “One of the essential conditions for the operation of a democratic society like Singapore is that the public must have access to correct information. Our republic is by nature multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural; there is ample room for more newspapers, periodicals, and other publications that are able to convey various news and opinions among our people.”1 He also noted that all newspapers must uphold national interests and help their readers understand the country’s issues and problems.
Jin Yong had said in an interview that Shin Min was a privately-owned commercial newspaper with no political background or party affiliations. It took an independent stance, and had national interests in mind as its reporting fostered understanding and cooperation among the various ethnic groups in Singapore. And since it was a newspaper’s duty to promote culture, enlighten the general public, instil civic knowledge, encourage freedom and democracy, and advocate social welfare, it was only natural that Shin Min would adhere to these principles.
As his martial arts novels were highly sought after by readers in Singapore and Malaysia at the time, Jin Yong also wrote The Smiling, Proud Wanderer for Shin Min’s exclusive serialisation in its launch to attract readers. This proved to be immensely popular and came to be one of the newspaper’s selling points. As outlined by Jin Yong himself, the five distinguishing characteristics of Shin Min were: a supplement that featured many famous writers and included Jin Yong’s novels not seen elsewhere, an entertainment section filled with exclusive news, an extensive global network, rich coverage of world affairs, and horse-racing analyses by well-known experts. The newspaper was initially published both in the morning and afternoon, but in the 1990s it gradually transitioned into an evening paper delivered late in the afternoon.
In the middle of 1968, Poon Yuet-sang returned to Hong Kong, and it was not until 1 April 1969 that Chung Wen Ling (birth and death years unknown) took over as editor-in-chief. The latter also brought with him Chua Hong Seng (1921–2001) and Wong Tuck Wing, both of whom had previously worked with him at Nanyang Siang Pau before the three of them went into television; as well as writer Yao Zi (Zheng Mengzhou, 1920–1982). Chua Hong Seng served as Shin Min’s editorial director, Wong Tuck Wing as news editor, and Yao Zi edited the supplement Xin Feng (New Winds). The style of the newspaper began to shift as its tone became more serious.
In September 1971, Shin Min co-founder Leung Yun Chee died. Leong Heng Keng, the director of finance, took over as chairman of the board of directors. On 9 November 1972, Shin Min relocated from Davidson Road to Yun Chee Building in 577 MacPherson Road. The team moved again on 5 February 1989 to Singapore Press Holdings’ News Centre, where it shared darkroom facilities and a resource library with Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao.2
In 1975, the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act was implemented, and Shin Min underwent restructuring and distribution of management equity in 1977. Chung Wen Ling left the newspaper to become editor-in-chief of Nanyang Siang Pau in February 1978. Chua Hong Seng then served as acting editor-in-chief for six months before Wong Tuck Wing was promoted to editor-in-chief, with Teh Kuan San as deputy editor-in-chief. During this period, Shin Min’s tone grew less serious and became prone to sensationalising light-hearted news, leading to its suspension by the Ministry of Culture on 7 December 1979. In an appeal, the newspaper submitted a proposal to revise its editorial policies and was allowed to resume publication on 9 January 1980.
Beginning in 1979, Shin Min gradually adopted simplified Chinese characters, starting with its supplements before moving on to the news sections and eventually becoming fully printed in simplified Chinese. In the same year, the newspaper also switched to a horizontal text layout in a bid to keep up with developing trends in the industry. Vertical formatting was now a thing of the past.3
In August 1982, the Straits Times Press (1975) Ltd bought 45% of Shin Min’s shares for about $1.12 million. An additional 14% was acquired in December that same year, making the newspaper a subsidiary of Straits Times Press. As a result, the company became one of two major publishing houses in Singapore — the other being Singapore News and Publications Limited, the holding company of Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau.4
On 1 January 1983, The Straits Times appointed three representatives — Denis Tay, Cheong Yip Seng, and Pang Loo Kien — to join the board of Shin Min. Frank Wong (1929–2024), the former managing director and editor-in-chief of Sin Chew Jit Poh, was assigned at the same time as Shin Min’s editorial advisor. In the middle of the year, Leslie Fong Yin Leong, a senior deputy editor-in-chief of The Straits Times who had returned from his studies in London, was selected as chairman of Shin Min’s editorial committee. On 2 January 1984, Goh Nguen Wah, editor of The Straits Times’s bilingual edition, was transferred to Shin Min as a senior editor. Placed in charge of the commentary pages, he established a new Opinion section which further enhanced the newspaper’s image.
Goh Nguen Wah took over as editor in 1986 and later became the deputy editor of Lianhe Zaobao in 1990. Seng Han Thong replaced him as Shin Min’s editor and was succeeded by Toh Lam Huat a year and a half later. The latter went on to become supervising editor in 2007, when Koh Lin Hoe took on the role of editor from 2007 to 2011. The next successor was Pan Cheng Lui, editor from 2011 to 2017, followed by Choo Chee Wee who took on the role from 2017.
On 16 March 1983, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau, the two major Chinese newspapers in Singapore, merged to form Nanyang Sinchew Lianhe Zaobao (Lianhe Zaobao) and Nanyang Sinchew Lianhe Wanbao (Lianhe Wanbao).
Although both newspapers were launched on the same day, Lianhe Zaobao traces its history back to 1923 as it belonged to the category of morning dailies along with Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh. Being an evening paper, Lianhe Wanbao did not follow suit and instead adopted 16 March 1983 as its founding date.5
The inaugural issue of Lianhe Wanbao had a letter to readers on the cover page which mentioned that the newspaper’s mission was to spread modern knowledge and promote traditional culture. It promised to report on domestic and international news in simple and concise language, ensuring that readers would be promptly and accurately informed of world affairs. A series of in-depth stories Datexie became a notable feature of the paper. It was published five days a week and took up a full page each time, with many of its reports later compiled into books over the years.
In 2011, Lianhe Wanbao expanded online by creating a Facebook page, amassing over 210,000 followers by 2018. To mark its 30th anniversary, the newspaper launched an official website and mobile app on 9 September 2013. This allowed readers to access its content anytime via smartphones, tablets, and web browsers.
At the end of 2017, the Chinese Media Group (CMG) under Singapore Press Holdings consolidated the resources of Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, and CMG Digital to set up a single NewsHub serving all three platforms. This shared mode of operation came to an end only after the closure of Lianhe Wanbao in 2021.
Faced with the impact of the digital age and the limited pool of talent for local Chinese media, the 38-year-old Lianhe Wanbao was discontinued on 24 December 2021, after merging with Shin Min Daily News.
Lianhe Wanbao had a total of six editors over its 38 years, namely Chen Cheng from 1983 to 1998, Koh Lin Hoe from 1998 to 2007, Peter Ong from 2007 to 2009, Chua Chim Kang from 2009 to 2014, Lee Huay Leng from 2014 to 2016, Chua Chim Kang from December 2016 to November 2017, and Goh Sin Teck from December 2017 to December 2021.
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What do historians mean when they talk about Chinese education in Singapore and Malaysia? They mean an education system — based in Chinese schools — where all subjects were taught and examined in Chinese dialects and standard Mandarin. In the early years, most of the teachers in Chinese schools came from various dialect regions in Southern China. As a result, dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hainanese were most commonly used in classrooms, while standard Chinese, or Mandarin was introduced later on.
During this period, the mission of Chinese schools was to not only teach contemporary academic subjects, but also impart knowledge of Chinese language, culture, and history, as well as instil Chinese ideologies and values. “Chinese education” and “Chinese schools” are important educational concepts in the region.
Before the Republican era (1911–1949), Chinese schools — including traditional private schools — had mainly been using traditional teaching materials such as the San Zi Jing (Three Character Classic or Trimetric Classic), Bai Jia Xing (Hundred Family Surnames or Century of Surnames), Qian Zi Wen (Thousand Character Classic or Millenary Classic), and the zhusuan (knowledge and practice of performing arithmetic calculations using an abacus). In the late Qing, new types of schools emerged, and it became clear that a fundamental shift from traditional to modern educational content had occurred.
The earliest Chinese schools in British Malaya (Singapore and the Peninsular Malaysia) emerged between 1904 and 1908. Yin Sin School was founded in May 1905 by the Hakka community, Guang Zhao School was founded in April 1906 by the Cantonese, Tuan Mong School was founded in September 1906 by the Teochews, and Tao Nan School was founded in the same year by the Hokkiens.
These schools were the forerunners of later Chinese schools. The fact that they had all been established within a few years after the 30th year of the Guangxu reign (1904) had to do with the influence of reformist movements of the Qing dynasty. By around 1903, advocates of the New Policies of the late Qing dynasty were aware of the importance of setting up modern schools across the country to teach Western practical knowledge and skills, although implementation was constrained by limited state funds. As a result, they turned to local communities and encouraged ground-up efforts to help build more schools and widen access to education. This was why all the earliest Chinese schools in Singapore were funded by clan associations.
Between 1905 and 1911, the Qing government intervened in the development of Chinese education in Singapore and Malaya. It stationed local consuls and frequently dispatched officials to the Nanyang region to inspect the state of affairs, encourage overseas Chinese people to start schools, and reward those who had made meritorious contributions to Chinese education. Around the same time, in 1907 and 1908, forces from Sun Yat-sen’s (1866–1925) Republic Revolution and Kang Youwei’s (1858–1927) Constitutional Monarchy factions had begun to spread their political ideologies in the region — indirectly spurring the development of Chinese education there. These circumstances further popularised Chinese schools, but also inadvertently caused Singapore’s Chinese education to become entwined with China’s social and political disputes and complications from the very beginning.
In 1913, after the two major military and political groups separately controlled by Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) and Sun Yat-sen had broken up, about 200 comrades from Sun’s camp were forced to flee in the wake of failed anti-Yuan and anti-government operations under the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Many of them were relocated to Singapore to work as teachers in Chinese schools. 1These politically ambitious individuals actively cultivated nationalistic sentiments among their students, and even mobilised them to take part in local social movements and protests.
This drew the attention of the British colonial government, which began to seek control over Chinese schools through legal and constitutional means. This led to the enactment of the Registration of Schools Ordinance 1920 in both the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements and the Legislative Council of the Federated Malay States. Although the ordinance stirred up a storm during its conception, visionaries from the Chinese communities in Singapore and Malaya resolved to protect Chinese schools from excessive interference by local government, external forces, and radical forces within the Chinese community — thus allowing the development of Chinese education to remain stable.
Up until the start of the Japanese occupation in 1942, Singapore had more than 300 Chinese schools of varying sizes, with about a third in the city area, and the rest scattered in villages (kampungs) across the island.2
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The British were granted the right to set up a trading post in Singapore on 6 Feb 1819, before eventually gaining full control over Singapore and the surrounding islands through subsequent agreements with the Sultan of Johor and Temenggong. For the next 130 years, there was no large-scale provision of education opportunities for local children. The Chinese-language education system in Singapore rapidly developed in the first half of the 20th century, largely pushed by uneven education policies of the colonial government during that period.
By 1941, the island’s population had reached 769,216 people, of whom 599,659 were Chinese.1 Even so, the colonial government had not established a single Chinese-language school in the region — the Chinese schools that existed had been set up by clan associations and members of the community.
By 1949, apart from Malay-language schools, there were 16 purely government-run schools, which taught in English, and 19 non-government English-language schools that received government subsidies. These 35 schools supported by government funding provided educational opportunities to around 32,000 children. However, there were more than 100,000 school-aged children in Singapore at the time. Many children who could not get a place in government schools or government-aided schools could possibly be deprived of education.
For the above reasons, in 1949, 71,000 school-aged children of Chinese descent had to enrol in one of the 319 community-run Chinese schools in order to receive an education.2
Since their inception, Chinese schools in Singapore have been established and funded by the Chinese community. Some of the schools were established by clans and locality or dialect organisations such as guilds and associations, some were founded by respected individuals and local figures, and others were run by religious groups such as churches. Most Chinese schools were predominantly non-profit organisations, and their operations were often managed by a board of council members.
Chinese schools, which had low fees, enabled all children to receive an education regardless of their social status. Additionally, because these schools were widespread in Singapore, children of labourers living in busy urban areas, as well as children of farmers living in the impoverished countryside, could attend a Chinese-language school nearby that was accessible and affordable. There, they received a relatively standardised education, a stepping stone that enabled them to shape their own destinies. Chinese schools filled the gaps left by government policies.
After the 1955 Singapore Legislative Assembly Election, an elected government was established. In February the following year, the newly appointed Labour Front government produced the Report of the All-Party Committee of the Singapore Legislative Assembly on Chinese Education, stating the views of the different political parties on Chinese-language education. In March, they produced an Education Policy White Paper, stating that from then on, the Chinese, English, Tamil and Malay language streams would all be treated equally. In 1956, the government began to establish government-funded Chinese-language primary and secondary schools. By 1957, this policy had been implemented, with all language-stream schools fully subsidised by the government.
During that period, almost all of Singapore’s Chinese-language community-run schools expressed acceptance of this policy, and started receiving comprehensive funding from the government. As a result, these community-run Chinese-language schools became known as government-aided schools. By 1961, there were 228 Chinese-language primary schools and 28 Chinese-language secondary schools.3This network of 256 institutions, comprising government-aided schools and government-run schools, formed the foundation of the Chinese-language education system. They provided complete primary and secondary education to around 150,000 Chinese-stream students, who accounted for approximately 40% of the student population in Singapore.4 The early 1960s would be a period when Chinese-language education bloomed and flourished.
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The development of the Chinese orchestral music in Singapore began in the 1950s, mostly encompassing folk music of the various dialect groups (Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, etc). Back then, it was not called huayue (literally Chinese music) yet, but rather minyue (folk music) or guoyue (national music).
In the early 1960s, Chinese orchestral music was almost invariably promoted and led by musical groups with leftist leanings, such as the folk musical ensembles of Kangle Music Society, Ai Tong/Chongfu Schools Alumni, and the Equator Arts Society. Some exceptions included the Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association, Tseng Tseng Musical Association, and local music groups in clan associations and Chinese schools like The Chinese High School and Chung Cheng High School. Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association, formed in 1959, was Singapore’s first full-fledged Chinese orchestra at that time, comprising four sections: wind, plucked strings, bowed strings, and percussion.
What distinguishes Chinese orchestral music in Singapore from other regions in Asia is mainly its name. It is referred to as minyue (folk music) in China, zhongyue (China music) in Hong Kong, and guoyue (national music) in Taiwan.
As with traditional folk music, local Chinese orchestral music in its early stages was mainly performed by a band playing in unison. It was not until the end of the 1950s and early 1960s that performances were gradually done in an ensemble setting (with harmonies, countermelodies, and other composition techniques), influenced by the practice of China and the availability of musical scores. However, compared to the present-day ensemble, it was simpler in terms of form, harmony, and texture. Compositions were generally not lengthy and often featured short ensembles such as light musical or dance pieces, for example:
In the early 1960s, performances of major compositions for a fuller ensemble were scarce, especially with restrictions on the import of musical scores. The more frequently performed repertoire included:
Notably, the 1963 premiere performance of “Fishermen’s Song of the Eastern Sea” by the combined ensemble of Aitong-Chongfu Alumni in Singapore, was its first performance outside of China, three years after its premiere there.
During the Cultural Revolution in China in the mid- and late-1960s, records and music scores from China were not allowed to be brought into Singapore, which made it even more difficult for local Chinese orchestra groups which were already facing a shortage of such resources.
The problem was not just a lack of music scores, but teaching expertise as well. Apart from the traditional folk music circle, which was taught by seasoned masters, most other Chinese orchestra musicians learnt to perform by listening to records and imitating them. With sheer enthusiasm and tenacity, they opened up a new horizon for professional Chinese orchestral music, building a sound foundation for its future development.
It is also worth noting that the soundtracks of wuxia (martial arts hero) movies from Hong Kong had a subtle influence on the many self-taught local musicians, igniting their interest in Chinese orchestral music. In fact, the main solution to overcoming the shortage of music scores was to slowly transcribe music by ear while listening to records or watching films in the cinema – note by note, phrase by phrase. Those who had the ability would attempt to create their own compositions and arrangements. This situation persisted till the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s, before it saw a gradual improvement.
The year 1968 marked a significant milestone for Chinese orchestral music in Singapore, where a National Theatre Company comprising the Singapore National Orchestra, Chinese Orchestra, Choir and Dance Company was established. Amongst them, the Chinese Orchestra was the first Chinese orchestra group in Singapore to pay its members an allowance. In 1969, the National Theatre Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of Cheng Ssu-sen (1943–1986), recorded Singapore’s first Chinese orchestral music album on a vinyl record. It was titled Guyue yingchun (Springtime Melodies), and comprised five pieces: Fengshou ge (Harvest Song), Guoqing (National Day) (also known as Sheqing [Community Celebrations]), Wushu (Martial Arts), Chungeng qu (Song of Spring Cultivation), and a guzheng solo Nao yuanxiao (Celebrating Yuanxiao).
The first-ever music competition in Singapore to include Chinese orchestral music was the RTS Talentime held by the local television station from 1968 to 1969. It sparked widespread interest in Chinese orchestral music. It was only later, in the 1970s, that Chinese orchestral music was featured in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Arts Presentation organised by the Ministry of Education.
The first time a local Chinese orchestra group went to Europe to perform was in 1970, where a youth orchestra formed by the Ministry of Education was invited to perform at the International Festival of Youth Orchestra held in Switzerland. Its members consisted of outstanding students selected from the Chinese orchestra groups of various secondary schools, and was conducted by Cheng Ssu-sen and Lee Suat Lien (1939–1989). The overseas trip was significant for multiple reasons — it not only broadened the young musicians’ outlook, but also inspired many of them to pick up western instruments and eventually pursue music as a career. Many of these musicians would go on to join professional orchestras like the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra (now known as the Singapore Chinese Orchestra) and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
On top of this landmark performance, the 1970s also witnessed two of the biggest events in the local Chinese orchestra scene. One, the establishment of the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra in 1974, and two, its being invited to perform at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1977. This performance is believed to have been the catalyst to the formation of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1978. Between 1976 and 1977, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of Ng Tai Kong (1943–2001), recorded two vinyl albums: Yelin wuqu (Dance of the Coconut Grove) and Nishang yuyi qu (Yueh-er Kao).
Following the formation of the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra, many organisations like schools, community centres, clan associations, and radio stations started to form their own Chinese orchestra groups in the 1980s. Though a consensus on the contribution to Chinese orchestral music education has yet to be reached, it is undeniable that the SYF’s music competitions started since the 1970s have had a positive effect on the development and standards of Chinese orchestral music in Singapore.
As the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra gradually professionalised in the 1980s, so did the standards and repertoire of local Chinese orchestra groups, which began to catch up to those of their counterparts in Hong Kong and China. During this period, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra also collaborated with dance and theatre companies in their productions, giving birth to novel styles of music in compositions like Nüwa (Nü Wa), Xi Fangping (Xi Fangping), and Tang huang (Don Juan).
As the Ministry of Education began to pay more attention to the scene from the 1990s, Chinese orchestras in primary and secondary schools developed rapidly, with some capable of sophisticated performances on quality instruments (especially during the SYF) that rivalled those of professional orchestras.
In 1996, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra went through restructuring to establish itself as a professional national orchestra. Renamed the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, it has since made a name for itself in the global music scene.
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During the colonial era, Chinese schools in Singapore held dual roles as community-run institutions and schools affiliated with overseas Chinese communities. The latter implied a strong connection between these schools and China, raising important questions about the national identity and affiliation of its students. As Singapore moved towards self-governance and independence, it was inevitable that the identity of Chinese schools would go through a major transformation.
In January 1949, Chang San Sheh (1898–1969) — a veteran in the Chinese cultural and educational community — published a series of articles in the newspapers urging local Chinese schools to maintain their identity as schools for overseas Chinese. Given that the majority of Singapore’s Chinese population still held Chinese citizenship at the time, Chang believed the objective of Chinese schools, “mostly founded by overseas Chinese associations”, was to “educate the children of overseas Chinese so that they might grow up to be good members of the local community and useful citizens of China upon their return home”.
He felt it was “necessary for the overseas Chinese to set up their own schools to educate their children abroad”, because “Chinese culture has a long history, and Chinese education is an independent and complete system in itself”. He also noted that “as of now, Chinese who plan to stay in (British) Malaya have either been there for generations, or have well-established careers. The rest are only here for the time being, and will return home once the circumstances allow for it. But even the former desires to send their children to Chinese schools, not to mention the latter”.
As such, Chang argued that it was necessary for Chinese schools to maintain their affiliation with overseas Chinese because the local government should respect the “independence and freedom of Chinese education” and “a people’s rights to choose their educational path”.1
A survey by Nan Chiau Jit Pao from March to June 1947 showed that Chang’s opinions were representative of the public sentiment. Of the more than 24,000 respondents polled on the “Future Political System of Malaya”, 95.6% were willing to become Malayan citizens “without giving up Chinese citizenship”. Only 3.1% were willing to do so if it meant renouncing their Chinese citizenship.2
This situation went through significant changes from the 1950s onwards. Apart from the state of international affairs, it was crucial that a growing sense of local identity had been developing as Singapore progressed towards self-governance and Malaya moved towards independence. In this context, the insistence on maintaining the affiliation between Chinese schools and overseas Chinese was increasingly losing its relevance, whereas the decision to develop Chinese schools into institutions that catered to the cultural and linguistic needs of Singapore Chinese had become imperative. It was time to abandon old concepts and beliefs to make way for the arrival of a new world.
These organisations also made the public aware of a new reality. With Singapore an autonomous state — where Chinese schools were a component of the state’s education system — the mission of those schools could no longer be to maintain the Chinese identity of the overseas Chinese. Rather, they should transform into Chinese schools that would “groom good citizens” for the new society, and provide “education in the mother tongue” of the local Chinese community.3
These appeals from mainstream forces within the Chinese education community played a definitive role in how Chinese schools adapted to the changing times, and ensured the smooth transformation of Chinese education in Singapore.
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In 1959, Singapore broke away from British colonial rule and became a self-governing state. The ruling People’s Action Party government wanted to treat all language streams equally, so it continued the existing policy of providing funding for schools of the various ethnic groups — as enacted by the previous Labour Front government.
In this way, Chinese education was able to enjoy a steady development. From 1957 to 1967, as many as 30% to 40% of Chinese parents across the country chose to enrol their children in Chinese schools.1
Singapore’s Chinese education was rooted in schools providing basic education. Before the Pacific War (1941–1945) broke out, there were already four Chinese secondary schools in Singapore. A few years after the war, another five were built. The foundation of the Chinese basic education system was thus complete.
But another problem appeared. There were not enough local higher-education institutions. Countless families did not know where to send their secondary school graduates for a university education.
Nanyang University was founded in 1955, and officially started classes in March 1956. Located in the western part of Singapore, it was touted as the only Chinese higher-education institution outside China. With the establishment of this new university, Singapore’s Chinese education system was complete. Alongside the English, Malay and Tamil-language schools, that collectively nurtured talents for the nation.
From the 1970s, enrolment in Chinese schools gradually declined each year. In 1967, Primary 1 enrolment in Chinese primary schools made up 33% of the Primary 1 cohort nationwide. By 1977, the number had dropped to 13.75%,2 and by 1983, had plummeted to less than 1%.3 This decline in student enrolment was also seen in the Malay and Tamil-stream schools.
On 10 February 1979, the Singapore government issued the Report on the Ministry of Education 1978 (also known as the “Goh Report”, after then-Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee who led the study). The immediate, direct goal of the report was to improve and enhance the bilingual teaching standards in Singapore’s schools. It also laid out a development plan for Singapore’s future education system. This plan introduced the New Education System which would replace the existing scenario where Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil language streams coexisted. The plan was far-reaching. It aimed to integrate the entire education landscape by setting up a unified model for all schools in Singapore. This advocated an education system which had English as a first language and mother tongues as a second language.
Under this new system, all students were required to achieve proficiency in English as a first language, which also served as the primary medium of instruction. At the same time, the system mandated that students of all ethnicities must study their respective mother tongues as a second language, but at a second-language proficiency level. This meant that Chinese students would study Chinese as a second language, Malay students would study Malay as a second language, and Indian students would study Tamil as a second language.
This important educational reform led to the discontinuation of ethnic language schools using their respective languages as the medium of instruction. Chinese-language schools, Malay-language schools, and Tamil-language schools ceased to exist in the form in which they had been known before. The language and cultural education that had been passed down in these schools, at a level equivalent to that of a first language, underwent a shift. It survived in the form of mother tongue courses taught as a separate subject — as a second language — as part of a unified educational model dominated by English. “Chinese education” thus evolved into “teaching the Chinese language”.
The final batch of students graduated from the Chinese-language-stream schools in 1986, marking the end of “Chinese education” in Singapore. While Chinese-language schools that used Chinese as the primary medium of instruction ceased to exist, the work of teaching students about Chinese language, culture, historical knowledge, and instilling Chinese thought and values did not stop. The task of transmitting Chinese culture was then taken on by Chinese language teaching in Singapore schools. Today, subjects such as Chinese Language, Higher Chinese and Primary Schools’ Civic Education continue to use Mandarin as the medium of instruction.