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In contemporary Singapore a transformation is taking place in the performance of Chinese opera (xiqu) as amateur performers with state support take over roles and repertoire formerly associated with professional companies. The rise of amateur groups can be seen as an outcome of the city-state's cultural policy and the emphasis on amateur rather than professional presentations is also linked to a long Confucian heritage that emphasizes the scholar-amateur and deemphasizes professionals in artistic performance.
Introduction
Monday, 22 December 2003, Singapore. To celebrate the winter solstice, the Nanyang Pho Leng Hui Kuan (Southeast Asia Puning Association, hereafter Puning Association) organized a banquet with martial arts demonstrations; karaoke of Mandarin, Chaozhou, and Malay popular tunes; and Chinese opera (xiqu). Puning is in the Chaozhou-speaking region in east Guangdong province, and thus the xiqu performed was Chaozhou opera (chaoju or chaoqu). The first xiqu excerpt that evening was Meeting in the Capital (Jingchenghui), performed by two members of the Puning Huiguan Chaoqu Xichangban (Puning Association Chaoqu Singing Class), formed only nine months earlier in March 2003.1
Traditionally, the Puning Association invited professional chaoju troupes to perform at such celebrations. After establishing their own amateur xiqu group in 2003, the association instead performed xiqu for and by themselves. Replacing a professional troupe with an amateur group is a significant gesture that goes beyond substitution. It reflects notions of what is culturally relevant in Singapore. Even more importantly, it foregrounds cultural nationalism in shaping musical traditions.
Meeting in the Capital belongs to the xiaoxian (small deities) ritual repertoire of the chaoju tradition, and is a banxianxi (ritual play). Performing ritual plays is a distinctive role of professional xiqu troupes done to begin a day's performance (Lee 2000: 42-43). Amateur groups do not normally present ritual plays or do such performances. Yet on this night the Puning Association's amateur xiqu group not only substituted for a professional troupe; it also presented this opening ritual play, displacing professionals in this annual event.
The Puning Association's example is indicative of broader changes in traditional Chinese theatre by amateurs and professionals in contemporary Singapore. In this essay, I shall examine the organization of the amateur xiqu group to explore the changing sociocultural politics in modern Singapore. By looking at how the identity of...