30 Jan 2016
The setting up of 'Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance' by -
The Finger Players
The Theatre Practice
Paper Monkey Theatre
Drama Box
Toy Factory
Nine Years Theatre
新加坡华语剧团联盟 － 新华剧体 成立
十指帮
实践剧场
猴子剧场
戏剧盒
TOY肥料厂
九年剧场
Dear Friends,
I have been wondering to write this in English or Chinese... And I decided to do this in English. (Though my Chinese is actually better...) Because I want more people to read this... For all non-manadrin speakers and non-chinese readers who are interested.
I have to say that even I have chosen to write this in English, that doesn't take away any Chinese-ness in me.
First of all, Congratulations! And thank you for this historical moment of setting up this 'Alliance'. I am proud of you and respect all your good/hard works contributed to the scene. I am sure that all masters before our time would be glad to witness this important and significant theatre event of this century.
I have been thinking... All that you (and audience) have mentioned during the talk...
I am glad that Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance (SCLTA) is NOT an union. I personally have 'phobia' of the word 'Union'... It normally means a 'closed-circle/group' who 'differentiate' themselves apart from others, and in the midst of working, pushes out 'other' groups due to defensiveness and 'classifications'. So, the public and practitioners have to understand that SCLTA is NOT an union.
SCLTA is not formed to just present productions and festivals together. It's objective/mission is much more than this. Frankly, if you just wanna organise a festival, you don't even need to set up SCTA. All of you have the means and capability to do that! SCLTA aims to promote Chinese (Language) Theatre, exploring the complexity of Chinese culture, language(s), relationships and social concerns etc. (I use the word 'language(s)' because I have included many dialects in the Chinese language.) This triggered my first 'bunch' of questions... Not necessarily directing it towards you, but I think we should all ponder over...
- What is Chinese-ness? What is 'Singapore-Chinese-ness'?
- What are we trying to 'promote', 'defend' or 'rescue'?
- Is building 'Chinese-ness' so important? How about building 'Singapore-ness'?
Of cos' it's more than just language(s). So, ‘新加坡华语剧场’ SINGAPORE Chinese Language Theatre... I guess the 'Singapore' is important to me. 'SINGAPORE-CHINESE' is important to me. So we are looking at our own 'Chinese-ness'? Already I can feel the gap between me and my parents... And now I have new immigrant and foreign friends... Our 'Chinese-ness' have such vast differences, in definitions and culture. What am I defending? If there is anything to defend... What do I wanna 'build'?
If we say that our younger generation speaks lesser and poorer Mandarin and is less 'Chinese', that goes with our Malay/Indian/Peranakan/Eurasian community in Singapore too. I said this because I've spoken to these friends numerous times and know that they too, have the same 'struggle'. So, this is a nation-wide phenomenal. We are losing 'IT'. Losing our distinctive 'identities'.
I agree with Nelson Chia that it is important for us to 'promote/protect' our own culture in our society, EXACTLY because we are supposed to be 'MULTI-Culture'! If this phenomenal persists, we will, as a nation, lost all our 'distinctiveness' and become homogenous. Well, is that good or bad?... I'm still thinking... Though I must say, instinctively, I would not like that to happen. That's boring. It's the MULTI-racial and MULTI-culture that make us 'unique'. Isn't it?
Someone mentioned feeling 'nostalgic' about Mandarin during the talk... That's sad and pathetic! Mandarin has fallen into the category of 'Nostalgia' cos' it's not our common daily tool anymore! The thing about Chinese (Language) THEATRE is that - Most of the older generation (mandarin-speaking) thinks that it's too 'chim' ('hard/difficult') and would rather go for ge-tai or pop local movies and the younger generation feels that they can't relate to it cos' it's not their 'common language'. Of cos' there is still a group of mandarin speaking (older) audience who will support the Chinese theatre. (We all can see that.) So now it's the question of HOW can we reach out to more public... And not let Mandarin becomes a language of 'the past'...
My stream of thoughts became even more complicated when I heard the Chinese students spoke during the session... So what if now, we have foreign younger generation who wanna join the Chinese Theatre force in Singapore? What effect does it have? Singaporeans learning Chinese is getting lesser... And we have an amount of foreign talents... So are we still doing 'SINGAPORE Chinese Theatre'? Or are we just doing 'Chinese Language Theatre'? If we have a Chinese playwright, a Malaysian director with a Singapore cast, and is produced by a Singapore theatre company, does it make it a 'Singapore-Theatre' piece? Does it matter? Or not...
Last year, I attended a session 'Cakap-Cakap' organised by The Necessary Stage (Alvin Tan). We discussed about whether theatre groups should tag themselves as Malay, Chinese or Tamil Theatre companies or simply, 'Singapore Theatre' companies...? I was surprised to see only Drama Box and Nine Years Theatre representatives during the session. 90% of the participants were from Malay and Tamil theatre companies. This recall makes me worried that we are, as Chinese, again, like to 'group' ourselves together and differentiate ourselves from the rest... Please pardon my frankness. But I do have faith in you and trust that you will not, and, it's not your intension to do so. I guess we have to be very conscious about this matter.
I love Wen Sen's comments and Dr. Quah Sy Ren's conclusion. Yes, Chinese Theatre is not as marginalised and minority as contemporary dance or tamil theatre in Singapore. So we should not have that 'Oh-so-poor-me' kinda mentality. And yes, of cos' there are ways to improve! And we should all work hard for it. I urge all who are concern and interested in the matter to share and contribute and be a part of this 'champion/movement'.
Thank you once again. We all know that there's still a long way to go... But thank you for the 'START'! I sincerely hope to see your vision very soon and let's embark onto this journey together!
Love always,
Zelda Tatiana Ng
