The five videos feature excerpts adapted, with a twist, from existing Chinese opera scripts, and are performed in each troupe’s respective dialect and traditional opera style. - ST
SINGAPORE: Five Chinese opera troupes have teamed up with public sector agencies to convey public service messages in light-hearted videos.
The five videos feature excerpts adapted, with a twist, from existing Chinese opera scripts. They are performed in each troupe’s respective dialect and traditional opera style.
For instance, the legendary magistrate Justice Bao tells a distraught old woman awaiting her son’s return from the capital: “Do not take messages from unknown origins seriously.”
Each clip comes with English and Chinese subtitles, and contains a public service message that the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) co-curated with participating public sector agencies.
The first-of-its-kind collaboration has been made possible by SCCC, as part of its promotional campaign for its upcoming Chinese Opera Festival 2025 from June 21 to July 26.
SCCC chief executive officer Alvin Tan said: “We hope to stay true to traditional Chinese opera and how it is performed in order to safeguard the art form, and at the same time ensure that the public service messages contained in the videos reach out to one of their intended audience segments – senior citizens.”
The first video, aimed at educating seniors about recognising and resisting scams, was launched on Nov 21 on SCCC’s social media platforms, including WeChat and Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu.
The other four videos, each about 1 to 1½ minutes long, will be uploaded on the 21st of each month till March 2025 on its social media platforms.
The five opera troupes are the Chinese Opera Ensemble (Hainanese), Chinese Opera Studio (Teochew), Tang Renaissance (Yue opera), Tian Yun Beijing Opera Society and OperaWorks (Singapore) (Cantonese).
The public sector agencies include the Health Promotion Board (HPB), Land Transport Authority, National Parks Board (NParks) and Singapore Police Force (SPF).
The five public service messages are:
>Don’t fall for scams. ACT (Add, Check, Tell) against scams today!
>Do not feed pigeons, and dispose of food scraps properly.
>Go for regular health screening.
>Plan your legacy today.
>Follow active mobility rules; be considerate to other users.
Chinese Opera Studio president Lim Chor Khiang, who acted as legendary magistrate Justice Bao in the first video on scams, said: “We participated in SCCC’s video project because we believe it will showcase the art form and practitioners of local Chinese opera in a different light, and also because we believe in and want to play a part in SCCC’s goal of leveraging traditional art forms to do good for the wider public.”
The 54-year-old added: “Promoting Chinese opera is a long and difficult journey. SCCC has provided a valuable platform for small opera groups like ours to widen our reach.”
Leng Wai Toh, 78, who advocates going for regular health screening in the video by OperaWorks, said: “I had to adapt the messaging to Cantonese, but it was a new and fun experience indeed.”
She added that the message from HPB resonated deeply with her as a “pioneer”.
Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Devrajan Bala, director of the Scam Public Education Office, said: “We hope that the video with Chinese Opera Studio will help reach out to more members of the public, especially the Teochew community, to encourage them to be more aware of the latest scams and to equip them with the necessary knowledge to ‘ACT’ against scams.”
Soh Ze Bin, director (wildlife management and outreach) at NParks, said the board adopts a science- and community-based approach to pigeon management.
“We are happy to work with SCCC and opera troupe Tang Renaissance on this joint video project which uses humour to remind the public that everyone has a part to play in managing the pigeon population in Singapore, such as by not feeding pigeons and discarding food waste properly.”
SCCC also organises Happy Sing-Along, a monthly concert targeted at seniors, featuring Mandarin and dialect songs performed by local artistes, as well as a skit segment conveying public service messages. - The Straits Times/ANN
