Hokkien music in Singapore
Hokkien music in Singapore refers to music sung in the Hokkien vernacular. It is generally categorised as two types, traditional music, and modern (modeng) or popular (liuxing) Hokkien music.
The term “Hokkien” is widely accepted and used to refer to migrants from south Fujian in China, or their descendants.1 The prominence of the Hokkien group in the surrounding region, including China, Taiwan and modern Southeast Asia, has led to scholarly studies dating back to the 19th century.2 A number of Romanised terms, such as “South Fukienese” and “Hokkienese”, emerged as a result.3 The labels for Hokkien music also vary depending on temporal and spatial factors, the most commonly used being Hokkien or Fujian songs (Fujian ge) and others include Amoy songs (Xiayu ge or Xiaqu) and Minnan songs (Minnan ge or Minnan yu gequ). These terms, especially the latter two, denote trends usually pertaining to a specific time frame.
The origins of nanyin
The most enduring example of traditional Hokkien music is nanyin (southern music). It is also known as nanguan (southern pipes) and sometimes spelt as namkuan (a transliterated Hokkien term) or nanyue (southern music) — a term sometimes found in old newspapers in Singapore. Other names for nanyin include xianguan, nanqu, nanci, and langjunchang.4
Nanyin’s origins can be traced back to the early Ming dynasty around the 14th century.5 It is a form of ensemble music comprising “traditional songs and instrumental repertoire” with three main categories: vocal suites (zhi), individual songs (qu), and instrumental suites (pu).6 Its main musical instruments include pipa (four-string plucked lute), sanxian (three-string plucked lute), dongxiao (vertical end-blown flute), and erxian (two-string bowed lute). There is also the five-piece wooden clapper, known as paiban, that denotes the beats of each metric cycle. Nanyin’s musical characteristics, including its notation, formal musical structure, and repertoire, are said to be distinct from other “silk and bamboo” (sizhu) instrumental ensemble music prevalent in neighbouring regions like Guangdong and Chaozhou.7
“Wherever there are Hokkiens, there are nanguan organisations”, said nanguan musician Yang Chaochang (1922–1993), who emphasised the importance of nanyin in the everyday life of Hokkiens.8 Although performed by members of the upper class in imperial China, nanyin became a significant part of the lives of Hokkien migrants who settled in Singapore.9 To them, nanyin was seen as the music of their hometown (xiangyin). In its early days, when there were no nanyin associations established in Singapore, migrants — mostly from Jinjiang county — gathered at coolie houses (gulijian or kuliking in Hokkien) to sing nanyin. Some brought their own pipa or asked their compatriots back in Quanzhou to bring more musical instruments and music scores so that they could sing to their hearts’ content.10
Some of these migrants became the founders of nanyin associations such as Heng Yun Ge, believed to have been established in the early 20th century.11 In its early years, Heng Yun Ge performed mostly behind closed doors on the feast days of deities, such as Guanyin, as well as Chinese festive celebrations such as the Lantern Festival. Later, they would perform publicly, such as Thian Hock Keng temple, which would attract flocks of Hokkiens.
To the Hokkiens, Nanyin also played a significant role at the end of a person’s life. Although ensemble music is typically reserved for deceased nanyin musicians during their funerals, families of older Hokkien folks would sometimes request that nanyin musicians perform during the funerals of their loved ones.12
Development of nanyin in the early to mid-20th century
From the early to mid-20th century, nanyin was considered the most popular form of Hokkien music entertainment, as seen in the founding of various nanyin associations such as Jin Hua Ge in the 1930s, Yun Lu Nanyin Society around 1937, Siong Leng Musical Association in 1941, and Chuan Sing Musical Society in 1961.13 Various Hokkien associations also established their own nanyin departments, including Anhai Association during the 1940s and 1950s, and later Chin Kang Huay Kuan in 1978.14
Besides the establishment of nanyin associations and music clubs, performance sites and broadcasting platforms also played an important role in disseminating nanyin to the general public. From the 1930s, newspapers like the Singapore Free Press served as advertisements for radio news. For instance, in the early 1940s, broadcasting stations ZHL, ZHP1 and ZHP2 were reported to have featured “Hokkien Namkuan Selections”.15 Nanyang Siang Pau later reported that the Malaya Broadcasting Station had invited the Teo Clan Association and Siong Leng Musical Association to perform and broadcast nanyue in 1948 and 1954 respectively. Rediffusion, Singapore’s first cable-transmitted commercial radio station, also joined in the broadcasting of nanyue in the 1950s.16 Amusement parks such as Happy World invited nanyin groups like Nanyue lianyou she and Siong Leng Musical Association to perform as well.
The end of the Second World War (1942–1945) would later affect the development of Hokkien music in Singapore in various ways. First, close connections with mainland China were disrupted, preventing nanyin musicians and teachers – who usually came from the same hometowns as Hokkien migrants in Singapore – from entering the country. Second, it gave rise to the production of Amoy-dialect films, which was closely associated with nanyin in its early years. Nanyin melodies were often featured in these films, with nanyin performers involved in the soundtracks. One classic example was The Lychee and the Mirror in 1953, which featured actress Jiang Fan, a nanyin performer herself. The movie was publicised in Sin Chew Daily, which stated that the soundtrack was a nanyue production that featured nanguan ballads. Several such films that Jiang starred in became known as “nanyin movies”.17
The mid-20th century was also a period of great transition for Singapore, both politically and culturally. Cut off from their motherland in mainland China during the Cold War era, Hokkien migrants in Singapore had to look elsewhere for musical entertainment, mainly “Little Fujian” in Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan, and the Philippines.18 The concept of a cosmopolitan city with modern tastes for both theatrical and musical entertainment was also emerging locally, leading to the decline in popularity of traditional nanyin in Amoy-dialect films in the first half of the 1950s in favour of more modern Hokkien music.19 The term “Amoy” then became synonymous with modern Hokkien music for a short period. Ironically, this term did not encompass music produced in Amoy or Xiamen, as China was cut off from the rest of the world that belonged to the capitalist camp and feared the spread of communism.20 At that time, Amoy music came to be regarded as the main form of entertainment in the “Greater Hokkien” areas outside Mainland China, including Singapore.
Nanyin and Hokkien theatre
The evolution of nanyin influence can also be observed in traditional Hokkien theatre in Singapore. During the late 19th to early 20th century, nanyin and traditional Hokkien theatre were regarded as “blood and flesh”, an indication of its close relationship.21 In Singapore, nanguan or nanyin was also prevalent in Liyuan opera, Gaojia (or Kaoka opera), glove puppet theatre (potehi in Hokkien), and string puppet theatre.
As early as 1936, Fu Quan Xing, a Hokkien opera troupe from Malaya, transitioned from its musical roots in nanguan to re-establish itself as a gezai opera troupe. Renamed Sin Sai Hong, the famous Hokkien opera troupe in Singapore existed till the 21st century.22 Lee Chye Ee of the Jit Guat Sin puppet troupe also observed the proliferation of gezai and the decline in popularity of nanguan music, eventually forming See Yah Hui, a troupe that also sang in the gezai opera style.23
The musical style in Hokkien theatre in Singapore thus transitioned from a theatrical form that placed emphasis on labelled melodies to one that focused more on improvised tunes, as in the gezai tradition. Among these tunes, the most classical is the “seven-character tune”, comprising four lines with seven characters in each line.
This craze for gezai opera performances was further heightened by the production of gramophone records specifically dedicated to this genre, including the Romance of Gratitude and Avenge, Female Prince-Consort and Three Investigations of the Butterfly Dream by Justice Bao performed by Sin Kee Lin Hokkien Opera Troupe and released by Tang Nah Ah Company, a well-known record company then located at Hill Street.24
In fact, the concept of “modern Hokkien songs” in Singapore was said to have begun with Eng Ean Hokkien Opera Troupe, who was reported to have recorded “the first gramophone records of modern Hokkien music…in Singapore” in 1950. Releasing a total of 62 songs, they also featured music from other cultures, including hit songs from Japanese film Shina No Yoru and popular Malay songs “Terang Bulan” and “Bengawan Solo”.25 Other record companies similarly jumped at the opportunity. For instance, a record company named Parlophone invited members of Eng Ean, including the Lim sisters Eng Eng and Ean Ean, Lin Zhong Zhong, Fang Jing, Chen Yuquan, and Xue Mali to record popular or modern Hokkien songs.26
Hokkien music from the late 20th century
In the late 1970s, the attempt to restore nanyin to its former glory as mainstream Hokkien entertainment in Singapore was spearheaded by Teng Mah Seng (1915–1992), one of the pioneers of Siong Leng Musical Association. However, this proved challenging with the proliferation of popular Hokkien music, along with competition from other music genres such as Cantopop and Western pop music.
In the 1980s and 1990s, despite the ban on dialects in mainstream TV and radio stations, Hokkien pop continued to receive attention from the local audience in Singapore. Hokkien pop lovers were reported to visit nightspots such as karaoke lounges or purchase cassette tapes recorded in Taiwan and Singapore, with songs such as “Let’s have a Toast” (Gan ji bue) becoming very popular. The main reason for the fad was that “Hokkien lyrics related more to their lives, and love, happiness, and sadness are described explicitly”,27 according to an article in The Straits Times.
Taiwanese Hokkien entertainment also had a great influence on students and adults in Singapore, inspiring their passion for “new-wave Hokkien pop”. Taiwanese publications served to inform Hokkien pop fans of the latest music trends, and record companies such as Suwah Records even organised lunchtime concerts by popular singers from Taiwan like Lee Mao San and Lo Shi-fong at factories. This was because factory and blue-collar workers were one of the biggest buyers of Hokkien music cassettes. 28
Singapore Hokkien music has undergone a dramatic transition, from traditional Nanyin in the beginning to Amoy songs during the Cold War period, its development was closely related to the regional political and social trends. In terms of cultural transmission, modern or contemporary Hokkien songs and Gezai opera are mostly influenced by Taiwan and this phenomenon has continued from the late 20th century up to the present day.
1 | Jeremy E. Taylor, Rethinking Transnational Chinese Cinemas: The Amoy-dialect Film Industry in Cold War Asia (New York: Routledge, 2011), xii. |
2 | J.J.M. De Groot, Buddhist masses for the dead at Amoy (Leyde: E.J. Brill, 1884). |
3 | For the use of “Fukienese”, see Ng Chin-Keong, Trade and Society: The Amoy Network (Singapore University Press, 1983). For the use of “Hokkienese”, see Naosaku Uchida, The Overseas Chinese: A bibliographical essay based on the resources of the Hoover Institution (California: Stanford University, 1959). |
4 | Langjun here refers to the patron saint of nanyin. His name was Mengchang when he ruled the Houshu kingdom, located in present-day Sichuan in central China. Langjun was a court title conferred by the Song Emperor when Mengchang surrendered. Mengchang was famous for his musical talent and the common saying was that he was made patron deity of nanyin by the Houshu musicians when they migrated to the southeast. In the past, the worship of Langjun served as a rite of admission when a nanyin master accepted a new disciple. Today, nanyin societies still offer incense sticks to Langjun during important rituals. See Cloris Sau-Ping Lim, “Nanyin musical culture in southern Fujian, China: Adaptation and continuity” (PhD diss., SOAS University of London, 2014), 119. |
5 | Alan Robert Thrasher, Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China: Ethos, Theory and Practice (Leiden: Brill; Biggleswade: Extenza Turpin, 2008), 69–70. |
6 | Thrasher, Sizhu Instrumental Music, 12; Wang Ying-fen, “The transborder dissemination of nanguan in the Hokkien Quadrangle before and after 1945”, Ethnomusicology Forum 25, no. 1 (2016): 58, note 1. |
7 | Lim, “Nanyin musical culture”, 53. |
8 | This is a quote by nanguan musician Yang Chaochang, with the English translation provided by Wang (2016). See Huang Yixing, “Nanguan dongxiao gaoshou Yang Chaochang tan nanyue jiazhi” [The nanguan dongxiao master Yang Chaochang talks about the value of nanguan], Sin Chew Daily, 2 October 1982; Wang, “The transborder dissemination of nanguan”, 59. |
9 | Nanyin was known as the “music before the Emperor” (御前清曲), a prestigious title given by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty after a group of musicians performed at the imperial court. See Wang, “The transborder dissemination of nanguan”, 59. |
10 | Lay Woon Wee, “Xinijapo de fujian nanyin” [Fujian nanyin in Singapore] (Bachelor diss., National University of Singapore, 1998), cited in Huang Xiuqin, Xinjiapo nanyin chutan [A preliminary study on nanyin in Singapore] (Singapore: The Chinese Opera Institute and Arts Publishing of Singapore, 2010), 28. |
11 | See Kaori Fushiki, “Nanyin and the Singaporean culture: The creation of intangible cultural heritage in Singapore and intergenerational contrasts”, in Transglobal Sounds: Music, Youth and Migration, eds. João Sardinha and Ricardon Campos (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016), 97. There are inconsistent views as to when the earliest nanyin association was founded. Wang (2016) calculated that to be 1904 as the Nanyang Siang Pau reported the 25th anniversary of Heng Yun Ge in 1929; Fushiki (2016) stated that it was in the 1920s; while Huang (2010)’s maintained that it happened in the 1910s at Club Street and was founded by rubber businessman Li Yilai. |
12 | Teng Mah Seng oral history record, cited in Huang, Xinjiapo nanyin, 27–28. |
13 | According to a newspaper report in 1998, some members from Heng Yun Ge left and established Yun Lu Musical Society, believed to be the predecessor of Siong Leng. This requires further verification. See “Bendi nanyin zuzhi de yange” [The history of local nanyin organisations], Lianhe Zaobao, 3 May 1998. |
14 | Huang, Xinjiapo nanyin, 38–54; Xinjiapo jinjiang huiguan jinian tekan: 1918–1978 [Singapore Chin Kang Huay Kuan special commemorative issue: 1918–1978] (Singapore: Singapore Chin Kang Huay Kuan, 1978); The 100th anniversary of Chin Kang, 1918–2018 (Singapore: Singapore Chin Kang Huay Kuan, 2018), 57. |
15 | ZHL and ZHP were local radio stations popular in the 1930s. See Bradley C. Freeman and Yokanathan Ramakrishnan, “Radio in pre-independent Singapore (1936–1965)”, in Singapore Radio: Then and Now (Singapore: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016). The Singapore Free Press and The Straits Times began to report more on radio news from 1930 onwards, see Chua Ai Lin, “The story of Singapore radio (1924–41)”, BiblioAsia, Apr–Jun 2016, accessed April 5, 2016; The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), 6 October 1941, 6. |
16 | Zhang shi gonghui yinyuedui ding jin wan guangbo nanyue [Teo Clan Association Music Group set to broadcast Nanyue this evening] , Nanyang Siang Pau, 4 November 1948. |
17 | “Lijingyuan” [The Lychee and the Mirror], Sin Chew Daily, 12 June 1954. Taylor, Rethinking Transnational Chinese Cinemas, 51–54. |
18 | This was a major theme covered in Taylor’s Rethinking Transnational Chinese Cinemas during the Cold War period. |
19 | Taylor, Rethinking Transnational Chinese Cinemas, 64. |
20 | Taylor, Rethinking Transnational Chinese Cinemas, 13. |
21 | This is an observation made by Lim in her interview with Nanyin musician Chen Risheng in south Fujian in 2010. See Lim, “Nanyin musical ”, 88. |
22 | 魏木发的祖父和父亲各自创办的戏班,分别名为福安兴和福永兴。新赛凤于1953年自吉隆坡迁往新加坡,当时新加坡已有莺燕闽剧团、新麒麟闽剧团、南艺等剧团;参见王振春,《梨园话当年》,新加坡:玲子传媒,2000年,页63, 71,转引自谢汶亨:Caroline Chia, “The interaction of oral and literate practices in Singaporean Chinese temple theatre” (PhD diss., University of Melbourne, 2016), 114–115。 |
23 | 李载贻口述,转引自谢汶亨:Chia, “Singapore Chinese temple theatre”, 116。据黄秀琴观察,原来极受欢迎的南音,于1960年代末至1970年代之间开始逐渐没落;参见黄秀琴,《新加坡南音初探》,页57-64。 |
24 | 〈大中华唛迎春大贡献新麒麟剧团演奏三套歌仔戏唱片〉,《星洲日报》,1972年1月26日。 |
25 | “First Hokkien records made”, The Straits Times, 18 June 1950;黄文车,〈开创南洋的在地娱乐文化:谈新加坡丽的呼声厦语广播〉,《国文天地》,第28卷第8期,2013年,页85;据黄文车所述,最早灌录厦语唱片的女歌手,是莺燕闽剧团的方静(原名方玉珍,1919-卒年不详)。 |
26 | 王振春,〈唱片公司分天下,鸾鸾燕燕试啼声,40年代末期本地唱片行业〉,《新明日报》,1987年12月6日。 |
27 | “Hokkien pop is the rage”, The Straits Times, 2 September 1988. |
28 | 同上。 |
黄秀琴《新加坡南音初探》。新加坡:新加坡戏曲学院,2010。 | |
黎温慧,《新加坡的福建南音》,新加坡国立大学学士论文,1998。 | |
Wang, Ying-fen. “The transborder dissemination of nanguan in the Hokkien Quadrangle before and after 1945”. Ethnomusicology Forum 25, N 1 (2016): 58–85. |