Cantonese music in Singapore

Cantonese music in Singapore dates back to the mid-19^th century, when Cantonese opera culture began to spread to Southeast Asia and around the world. In a narrower sense, Cantonese or yue music refers to a genre of instrumental music believed to originate in the middle of late Qing period, after absorbing the influence of ancient music of the Central Plains, the qupai (labelled melody) of traditional Chinese operas, as well as folk music from the Jiangnan region.¹ According to a widespread story, during the reign of Xianfeng Emperor from 1851 to 1860, Cantonese opera was banned by the Qing court because some troupes were involved in uprisings. As a result, musicians started performing more instrumental works. The development of such music reached its peak around the 1920s. Not only was the gaohu, the main accompanying instrument in Cantonese music today, invented during this period; elements of Western music were incorporated too.

More broadly speaking, “Cantonese music” in Singapore could also encompass traditional narrative singing, Cantonese opera music, the musical accompaniment of full-length operas and opera excerpts, music from religious rituals, and even Cantonese pop songs composed by local musicians, as well as Cantonese renditions of Xinyao (Mandarin ballads composed by the youth in Singapore). Popular with the Cantonese-speaking community, they have been performed in theatres, teahouses, cinemas, street operas, clan associations, on the radio, and elsewhere.

Pre-war Cantonese music

Cantonese folk narrative songs during the late-Qing, early-Republican period, such as naamyam and yue-ou (narrative verses), were published in early Singapore newspapers such as Lat Pau, Chong Shing Yit Pao and The Union Times. These were a form of vernacular literature, with themes ranging from love forlorn to livelihood issues.² By the beginning of the 20^th century, Singapore’s teahouses and restaurants already started to feature performances by female singers who sang acapella or with accompaniment by ensembles.³ From the 1930s, well-known venues in Chinatown such as Southern Hotel Restaurant, Air View Restaurant and Xin Ji Yuan similarly had artistes performing Cantonese songs, and this form of entertainment remained popular until the 1950s.

Before World War II, many amateur troupes performing traditional Cantonese music and Cantonese opera were established, including the Tarn Fah Keng Ying Charitable Dramatic Association, Hoi Thin Amateur Dramatic Association and others, which soon also performed to raise funds for anti-Japanese resistance efforts. For professional musicians, there was the Poh Fook Woi Koon, a guild dating back to 1890. Its members were originally the so-called pengmian shifu (“music masters under the canopy”) of Cantonese opera who had broken off from Cantonese opera guild Pat Wo Wui Kun to start their own organisation.⁴

Post-war Cantonese music

From the pre-television era in Malaya to the 1970s in post-independent Singapore, traditional Cantonese music broadcasts and Cantonese opera films enjoyed popularity. Cantonese opera films were a form of mainstream entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s. Radio Malaya and Rediffusion often broadcast Cantonese music performed by local groups. Among these amateur groups were the Kwok Sing Musical Association, Yougu Musical Association, Sing Wah Musical and Dramatic Association, the Bell O’ Morn Musical Association, and music and drama groups belonging to various Cantonese clan associations. In addition to providing accompaniment for Cantonese opera, the music ensembles also performed popular tunes like Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake and Thunder in the Dry Season.⁵ They were fond of using the violin as a form of accompaniment, as well as incorporating other Western musical instruments such as the saxophone, banjo and xylophone.⁶ In the 1950s and 1960s, when these amateur music groups recorded at the radio station, they were typically unable to pay their musicians or give them a transport allowance, since funds were limited. However, it was customary for the band leader or association committee to treat them to a meal afterwards.⁷

Amusement parks such as New World and Happy World used to be major performance venues back in the 1950s and 1960s for famous Cantonese opera artistes from Hong Kong. They also provided a place for various clan associations to stage Cantonese opera and music performances as part of fundraising activities.⁸ In the 1970s, local street opera experienced a gradual decline as a result of urban development and changes in cultural lifestyle. However, when local street opera was still a popular form of entertainment, Cantonese opera troupes often engaged, at considerable expense, famous wenwusheng (male leads adept in roles of scholars as well as warriors) and huadan (female lead) from Hong Kong to perform in choushenxi (performances offering thanks to deities). Such stellar casting remains today a big selling point of Cantonese street opera in Singapore. The live music accompanying the performances may still be seen being directed by a small number of local musicians, allowing such skills to be passed on. Kong Fai Cantonese Wayang opera troupe is an example of this.⁹

New trends from the 1980s

From the 1980s onwards, the local Cantonese opera circle started interacting with practitioners from mainland China, and the audience gradually accepted a new musical style. In the 1990s, local troupes began engaging professional musicians and Cantonese opera performers from China who had trained at the academies there.¹⁰ Chinese Theatre Circle, a well-known local Cantonese opera troupe in Singapore, collaborated with Bu Canrong, a renowned arranger from Guangzhou, to create new repertoire. Since 2008, Tung On Opera has also been providing accompaniment regularly for performances of the Singapore Chinese Theatre Circle.

For a long time, Cantonese music in Singapore was associated mainly with Cantonese opera. There were very few purely instrumental performances. There is more active attempt today, with Tung On Opera incorporating newly-composed ensemble music and choral pieces into their programme, and they hope to encourage participation from musicians who play Chinese instruments but might not have a background in Cantonese opera.

It has not been easy to sustain activities of a professional Cantonese music ensemble even if based on a business model. Before and after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, at least two Cantonese music groups in Chinatown — namely Weng Ngai music orchestra and Poh Fook Woi Koon — stopped operating. Fortunately, there are still many traditional Cantonese music lovers in Singapore, who often visit music clubs or studios in the Chinatown area to participate in singing sessions. A 30-minute session will typically be just sufficient for a duet that captures a romantic story with all its emotional ups and downs. Compared to similar singing sessions in Hong Kong, the corresponding live music accompaniment in Singapore tends to be much reduced and hence more affordable, with three to four musicians instead of seven or eight.

Today, the Internet has a vast array of resources in Cantonese opera, providing more aid to learners. The English-educated in Singapore may thus experience — more easily than ever before — the aesthetic values of Chinese literary classics through the medium of Cantonese opera music.