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 19^th 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 14^th 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 20^th 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-20^th century

From the early to mid-20^th 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-20^th 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 19^th to early 20^th 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 21^st 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 20^th 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 20^th century up to the present day.