Ng Chia Keng, whose birth name was Ng Yong Khern (1912–2003), was a master storyteller in the Teochew dialect. He was born in Shantou, China and hailed from Xianxi Village in Anbu, Chaoan County. As the youngest child in his family, he had four brothers and two sisters. He provided Chinese-language tutoring to elementary students in his hometown before moving to Singapore at the age of 18.

The unfavourable circumstances in Singapore back then caused him to work as a clerk for a local produce company in Pekan, Pahang in Malaya, before returning to Singapore after World War II. He died on 26 May 2003 from liver disease.

In early Singapore, there were three prominent storytelling figures in the local Chinese community. The longest in tenure was Lee Dai Soh (1913–1989), who spoke Cantonese and entered the world of radio in 1938. The second was Ng Chia Keng, a Teochew speaker who made his radio debut in 1947 and later became a member of Rediffusion in 1950. The third was Ong Toh (1920–1999), a Hokkien who began storytelling in 1953.

Chinese New Year Jokes By Ng Chia Keng, 1994. Reproduced with permission from Rediffusion (2012) Pte Ltd, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Ng was best known for narrating martial arts novels written by Hong Kong authors Liang Yusheng (1924–2009) and Jin Yong (1924–2018). Initially, he delivered short stories for half an hour every Sunday, gradually increasing the frequency and telling longer stories for three half-hour sessions per week. From then on, his broadcasting time slots kept increasing.

Ti liang ti re and Ti Chia keng ue era

One of Ng’s most well-known programmes in his 35-year radio career was Ti liang ti re (Chatting about Hot and Cold; ti meaning “to chat” in Teochew), which mostly focused on folktales. He initially freelanced for radio, earning $15 for each 15-minute session, a substantial amount at the time. The show was so well-received that it prompted the newly opened private station Rediffusion, who was eager to recruit talent, to offer him a slot every Sunday afternoon to “chat” for half an hour.

As his popularity soared during the Ti liang ti re period, Teochew listeners either tuned in at home, if they had subscribed to Rediffusion, or gathered at coffee shops at Clarke Quay and Teochew Street. The roads in these areas were deserted, reflecting the extent of his popularity.

Recognising his widespread appeal, Hong Kong Rediffusion invited him to Hong Kong. At this point, he had changed the programme’s name to Ti Chia keng ue (Chatting with Chia Keng), using his stage name as part of his storytelling brand. There was also a playful connotation to his stage name. In Teochew, mispronouncing his surname Ng sounds like “wu” (meaning “the absence of”), so Wu Chia Keng would literally translate to “without proper conduct”.1

Ng also hosted a programme called Ting chi bai dan (Listening and Eating White Porridge), which roughly translates to “talking nonsense”. This programme was specially dedicated to telling traditional folk literature stories. After they were refined and organised by Ng, the stories became more captivating and gained widespread popularity. Ting chi bai dan told story after story in its run, all classic tales that listeners never got tired of.

Retiring from storytelling

In 1960, he founded the Tong Iong Teochew Amateur Broadcasting Team, with television artist Chen Shucheng becoming one of his apprentices. However, when all dialect programmes on radio stations were discontinued by 31 December 1982 during the height of the Speak Mandarin Campaign, 70-year-old Ng bid farewell to storytelling as a profession, even declining invitations by organisations to continue storytelling. The exception was in 1990, when he readily accepted an invitation by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations to perform during its “Chinese Cultural Month”, singing Teochew nursery rhymes with a group of children at Raffles Place that night.

Ng’s children’s songs were very well-known. In 1989, the Oral History Centre compiled a collection of his handwritten children’s songs, which were authentic Chaoshan nursery rhymes. The melodious songs were both entertaining and educational, portraying the local culture and traditions of Chaoshan. In 1992, independent arts centre The Substation hosted a recitation event titled “Memories of Children’s Songs”, where Ng once again caused a sensation by reciting Teochew nursery rhymes. In 1995, the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan published his selected annotated work Compilation of Teochew Nursery Rhymes with Pronunciation.

Ng Chia Keng’s Teochew storytelling and children’s song performance at the Singapore Heritage Festival, 1989. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.