Centre 42 presents the first of The Vault series on 22 September 2014: a revisit of two English-language plays written in the ’60s – When Smiles Are Done (by Goh Poh Seng) and A White Rose At Midnight (by Lim Chor Pee). Nora Samosir, Serene Chen, Casey Lim and Robin Loon refreshes and retells the stories they see in these plays, in this one-night only Lecture-Performance.

SynopsisThe PlayResourcesVideosPhotos

1964 – Singapore was part of Malaysia.
1964 – The year of racial riots between ethnic Chinese and Malays.
1964 – The year when two pioneering Singaporean dramatists wrote English-language plays in response to the lack of local plays that reflected recognisable themes, characters and speech. Prior to 1964, Lim Chor Pee’s Mimi Fan (1962) stood alone in the scene. In 1964, Goh Poh Seng wrote his first play and then, there were two.

2014 – We respond to these two writers’ sophomore creations respectively and collectively. We remember the plays while we refresh our perspectives on them – and retell the stories we see in them. Nora Samosir, Serene Chen, Casey Lim and Robin Loon investigates the texts of When Smiles are Done (Goh Poh Seng) and A White Rose at Midnight (Lim Chor Pee). They will suggest critical relationships between the present and the past while ruminating on their own connections with the texts, Singapore and Singapore theatre.

For one evening only, we invite you to share in these artists’ personal responses in an intimate lecture-performance. 

REGISTRATION

Monday, 22 September 2014
8pm @ Centre 42 Black Box

Admission is FREE.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

When Smiles Are Done
When Smiles Are Done was written by Goh Poh Seng and was first presented by Centre 65 in 1965. This play, set in contemporary Singapore in the 1960s, analyses the tensions in the life of a working-class Chinese family. The eldest son is disillusioned with their way of life while the only daughter wishes to marry a non-Chinese against her parents’ wishes.

A digital copy of the manuscript is available on NLB’s National Online Repository of the Arts (NORA). View it here.
Read more about the playwright here.

A White Rosa at midnight
A White Rose at Midnight was written by Lim Chor Pee and was first staged in 1964 by The Experimental Theatre Club. This play, set in contemporary Singapore in the 1960s, revolves around an attempt to bring together Chinese pragmatism and Western scepticism in the characters of a night club singer and an assistant lecturer at the university. It raised the issue of the status of the English educated in Singapore during the 60s and their search for identity in a society steeped in multi- traditions and languages.

The manuscript is currently not available in public domain.
Read more about the playwright here.

Documentation

• Advertisement for When Smiles Are Done (18 Dec 1965). View.
  “See Local Comedy When Smiles Are Done By Goh Poh Seng, Presented by Centre 64. At Cultural Centre, Fort Canning, S’pore Tonight – 8.30 p.m. Tickets at $2, 3, 4.”

• Report on When Smiles Are Done (8 Dec 1965). View.
  “A play about family life in Queenstown When Smiles Are Done, written by Dr. Goh Poh Seng, will be staged at the New Town Secondary School at 8.30 p.m. on Friday… On Dec. 16 at 8.30 p.m. the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Inche Yusof bin Iskhak, will attend the play at the Cultural Centre.”

• Review of When Smiles Are Done (2 January 1966). View.
  “Dr. Goh Poh Seng, the President [of Centre 65], may be an amateur playwright who has still a lot to learn about the construction of a play, but this did not mar my enjoyment of When Smiles Are Done, which this enthusiastic group presented recently at the Cultural Centre Theatre.
  “The theme was not original, but the play was interesting throughout, well acted and maintained a brisk pace. Above all, it was audible.”

• Report on a well-known soprano singing in A White Rose at Midnight (9 June 1964). View.
  “Miss Joanna Woo, the business manager, said: “This is an ‘angry young man’ type of comedy which should appeal to the theatre enthusiasts who have been complaining about the lack of Malaysian drama.”

Reading Material

#1: THE (UNOFFICIAL) 1964 THEATRE GUIDE

#2: THE DESIRE & IMPETUS FOR LOCAL THEATRE

#3: THE EXCHANGE – LOCAL VS EXPAT CLUBS

#4: THE LOCAL ‘MAD MEN’ ERA

#5: CABARET GIRLS IN THE LIMELIGHT

#6: THE GOLDEN AGE OF SINGAPORE MUSIC

#7: A YEAR OF TENSION, 1964

Lecture-Performance Handout #1

Prior to the event, the “Insider’s Guide to Enjoying Nineteen Sixty-Four” was emailed to participants who had registered to attend the Lecture-Performance. The guide contains quick tips and explanations on what to expect at our ‘Lecture-Performance’ and who our artist-collaborators are.

Download and read here.

Lecture-Performance Handout #2

The “Participant”s Notes on Nineteen Sixty-Four” was a handout given to all who turned up at the Lecture-Performance. The content within was designed to guide the participant to follow the Lecture-Performance, if required, and provided insight into the working relationship of the artist-collaborators.

Download and read here.

Part 1: Introduction, Frame & Context

Robin Loon, Casey Lim, Nora Samosir and Serene Chen introduce The Vault programme and its tenets, and explain what iteration 1.1 will cover. Robin then talks about the year 1964, specifically the significant events within the year, both in and outside of Singapore, as well as touches upon writing for the English-language stage in 1960s Singapore.

Part 2: An English Education

Nora and Serene read excerpts from Act 1 of A White Rose at Midnight. Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from an interview with playwright Lim Chor Pee and an early history of English-medium schools in Singapore.

Part 3: The Malcontent & Smoking on Stage

Nora and Serene read from Act 1 Scene 1 of When Smiles Are Done. Serene also shares her personal responses to the character of Chong Kit and the smoking in the script.

Part 4: Romance and Melodrama

Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 1 of A White Rose at Midnight. Robin shares excerpts from a 1961 Straits Times report on Shirley Wong and a study by Krishen Jit.

Part 5: The Cabaret Girl 

Nora and Serene read from the bar scene (Act 2, Scene 1) of When Smiles Are Done. Robin reads an excerpt from a 1960 Singapore Free Press article on cabaret girls, and Nora shares a personal childhood memory of cabaret girls.

Part 6a: The Nightclub Singer 

Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 2 of A White Rose at Midnight.

Part 6b: The Nightclub Singer

Casey responds to this excerpt with a video montage of media portrayals of nightclub singers. (This video may not be viewable on mobile devices. Please view on a desktop browser.)

Part 7: Racial Tensions

Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of When Smiles Are Done. Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from news articles on the 1964 racial riots in Singapore.

Part 8: The Unexpected Nation

Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of When Smiles Are Done and Act 3 of A White Rose at Midnight. Robin shares excerpts from articles on Singapore English-language theatre and Singapore’s English-educated. Nora and Serene conclude by reading the final scenes from both plays.

Centre 42 presents the first of The Vault series on 22 September 2014: a revisit of two English-language plays written in the ’60s – When Smiles Are Done (by Goh Poh Seng) and A White Rose At Midnight (by Lim Chor Pee). Nora Samosir, Serene Chen, Casey Lim & Robin Loon refreshes and retells the stories they see in these plays, in this one-night only Lecture-Performance.

Source: Centre 42 Facebook

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The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators.
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The public showing of this Lecture-Performance is only one aspect of its reach, and is only the starting point. Centre 42 believes in providing long-term public web access of our programmes as part of our documentation and provision of resources for the public.

The 90-minute Lecture-Performance has been repackaged into an 8-part video recording:

Part 1: Robin Loon, Casey Lim, Nora Samosir and Serene Chen introduce The Vault programme and its tenets, and explain what iteration 1.1 will cover. Robin then talks about the year 1964, specifically the significant events within the year, both in and outside of Singapore, as well as touches upon writing for the English-language stage in 1960s Singapore.

Part 2: Nora and Serene read excerpts from Act 1 of “A White Rose at Midnight”. Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from an interview with playwright Lim Chor Pee and an early history of English-medium schools in Singapore.

Part 3: Nora and Serene read from Act 1 Scene 1 of “When Smiles Are Done”. Serene also shares her personal responses to the character of Chong Kit and the smoking in the script.

Part 4: Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 1 of “A White Rose at Midnight”. Robin shares excerpts from a 1961 Straits Times report on Shirley Wong and a study by Krishen Jit.

Part 5: Nora and Serene read from the bar scene (Act 2, Scene 1) of “When Smiles Are Done”. Robin reads an excerpt from a 1960 Singapore Free Press article on cabaret girls, and Nora shares a personal childhood memory of cabaret girls.

Part 6a: Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 2 of “A White Rose at Midnight”.

Part 6b: Casey responds to this excerpt with a video montage of media portrayals of nightclub singers. (This video may not be viewable on mobile devices. Please view on a desktop browser.)

Part 7: Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of “When Smiles Are Done”. Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from news articles on the 1964 racial riots in Singapore.

Part 8: Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of “When Smiles Are Done” and Act 3 of “A White Rose at Midnight”. Robin shares excerpts from articles on Singapore English-language theatre and Singapore’s English-educated. Nora and Serene conclude by reading the final scenes from both plays.

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Access the full suite of materials about Nineteen Sixty-Four here.

What was your initial reaction(s) when you were first invited to be part of The Vault?

Nora: Excited to excavate our theatre history, challenged by the fact that even though it is only decades old, most Singaporean theatre practitioners know hardly anything about our past works.

Serene: I was excited because I am a bit of a “serial starter-up”, meaning that I like to be part of completely new enterprises or initiatives … probably because the rules are not (yet) set in stone. Also, I enjoy research and joining the dots. However, I really wasn’t sure about how “responding” to the plays would make a showcase. I could not really visualise what the “audience” was going to get. Why would they be interested in my response?

You had spent over a month working on this inaugural presentation of The Vault, together with the other collaborators. Looking back now, can you share any reflections you have of The Vault as a personal & collaborative project?

Nora: The Vault fills a gap in our theatre landscape; we can only nurture a thriving national theatre if our young practitioners know what our theatre roots are both modern and traditional, how far we have grown and so, how we can proceed.

Serene: I am very liberated by the process as it has allowed me freedom to explore these 2 texts. On one session, I felt I wanted to pursue certain broad themes. As the week elapsed, I felt that I was being too structured and predictable to go down a rather “prac-crit route” (Practical Criticism, done as Literature in JC). No one was making me do so. I then confessed to my collaborators that I really was drawn to only bits of this and that from the scripts. I was encouraged to respond precisely to those bits with original comments or articles or any other medium. It took a while for me to get my head around it, but I did. I think we found quite a democratic way to weave everyone’s voices in. It helps to have a dramaturg. It also helps that everyone’s experience is valued.
The surprising thing is that it was a very democratic process. I was doubtful of that being workable at the start. I found ourselves to be free to express our opinions but also respectful of the 2 playwrights’ works and the times they lived in. I certainly have never met these two gentlemen, Mr Lim Chor Pee and Dr Goh Poh Seng. Their scripts are not easily available to the public, but I would have thought that as an actor and an educator, I would have at least had a chance to catch a past video recording, a publication with their scripts…but nope. So, if not for The Vault, they still would have eluded me.

Describe 3 things you found interesting about the working process for The Vault.

Nora:
1. We were not limited to any specific methodology of research or area of exploration in responding to the two plays we were looking into, anthropological, sociological, political, dramaturgical, etc.
2. There was enough time in between meetings to do our own research and then during our sessions to share, discuss and even argue for or against the relevance of our findings.
3. This is perhaps the most interesting thing about our process, the openness of collaborators to viewpoints different from our own and the opportunity to encounter and engage different points of view.

Serene:

1. Discovering the play scripts of “When Smiles are Done” & “A White Rose at Midnight”.
2. Being able to work with a director, a dramaturg, fellow teacher and actress so intensively and so intensely to create a response is precious. This is unusal for most productions where time is of the essence. Everyone does their own thing as efficiently and as superbly on their own. Then, the director joins everything together. But that might be one rehearsal in the first 2 weeks and then, the last time, during tech week. I am using inappropriate terms, of course. This isn’t a “production”, but I’m afraid I have no precedence to compare it with.
3. It is an archive and more. I quite simplistically saw “The Vault” as the respository for Singapore classics when I was first introduced to it. But now, I see it as more of a living thing. Plays need to be read, staged, talked about ,for them to have a life. I feel that by being able to respond to them, we have extended their shelf life, maybe even their stage life if someone wants to pick them up and stage them. So, in our process, we give the plays more context (videos, articles, news reports, public figures of those times, popular music and other influences). I think of it now as archive + oral commentary. Casey reminded us that our “findings” would be put online for people to use. So, I think this vault is a good one. Everyone can have the key to Singapore literature.

If you had attended the Lecture-Performance and would like to share with us your thoughts and/or personal reflections, please email us at info@centre42.sg. We would love to hear from you!

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

Various views about the Merger:

A recording of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s address, in Mandarin and English, on the Agreement to set up Malaysia by 31 August 1963 signed in London. The recording was done a day after PM Lee Kuan Yew signed the Agreement. Listen to the audio recording.

New Year Message by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1 Jan 1964). View

“1963 will probably go down in history as the most eventful year in our lives. Had Malaysia been formed in 1957 at the time when the Federation was proclaimed independent, our emergence as a nation would have been welcomed by the whole world, including our immediate neighbours. But seven years later, the mood had changed, and Malaysia’s neighbours grudged her the territorial integration and economic success they desired for themselves. So from a “confrontation” of propaganda and villification commenced at the beginning of the old year, they ended up with an economic boycott and military pressure by the beginning of the new year.

“…let us resolve to make 1964 a year of consolidation. If we are realistic and practical, we can hold our ground internationally and thoroughly expose the hollowness of the neo-colonialist line. If we the States within Malaysia are united and prepared to help each other, we adjust our economy and make good any losses. If at the end of 1964 we are stronger internationally and internally than at the beginning, the prospects for a permanent settlement will be bright.”

An interview with Dr. Lim Hock Siew, politician. View

“…our main objective of anti-colonial struggle in Singapore at that time was to reunite Singapore with mainland Malaya. To bring the people of Singapore back to the Pan Malayan political struggle, for a united socialist Malaya. That was our main objective and we resisted all temptations to deviate from this objective, we resisted all temptations to play political optimism in calling for independence to Singapore, to pretend to be more anti-colonial than the PAP and so on. Because we felt that the long term aims, the long term objectives of our anti-colonial struggle could only be achieved with Singapore being genuinely merged with the Malayan nation. And that the struggle of the people of Singapore is part and parcel of the struggle of the whole Malayan nation.”

An interview with David Marshall, politician. View

“[The merger] was premature. That’s the danger. It has set it back. I said we should go our separate ways and build bridges until there had grown up sufficient feelings of mutual respect for a real marriage to take place instead of a shot-gun marriage to protect the PAP. But it might have been valuable from the point of view that it preserved the PAP Government.”

An interview with Mr. Pathmananban Selvadurai, former PAP MP for Bukit Panjang. View

“I was not confident in the kind of – our politics could match with the Malaysian style of politics. Their politics was frankly communal and racists and it is Malay dominated and which is something that I do not accept at all. Whereas in Singapore – was under the British – it was entirely different. Singapore was a community apart, compared to what Malaya was at that time. Everytime – quite apart from politics – during school holidays when I used to go to Malaya – you could see the atmosphere was so very different. It was very Malay; it was not cosmopolitan like Singapore was. There was greater interaction between various communities in Singapore than in Malaysia – Malaya at that time and when that was expressed in political terms and it was all Malay, Malay, Malay and nothing else and their nationalism was defined in Malay terms and the Chinese were more interested in making money, they were not looking at it in political terms – the thinking was not done politically.”

Photograph of the Merger. The poster at City Hall during the Malaysia Day celebrations in Singapore, with the words “Majulah Singapura” (Onward Singapore). The formation of Malaysia was officially proclaimed on 16 September 1963. View

Tension from outside Singapore: THE KONFRONTASI

In 1964, Singapore was in the midst of the Konfrontasi, a hostile Indonesian response to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia marked by intermittent armed attacks and bombings, including the 1965 Macdonald House bomb explosion which killed 3 and injured 33. Read more about the Konfrontasi.

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam speaking to journalists on Feb. 20, 1964. View

“Today, some 15 years after the Indonesian revolution it is quite clear that Indonesia far from becoming the Big Brother of South East Asia is becoming the Big Bully of this region…”

“When Dr. Subandrio and his colleagues bitterly complain that we do not seek Indonesia’s advice; that we do not look to Bung Karno for inspiration and leadership it is not because we do not want to. As a small country we are fully conscious that we cannot stand alone in this modern world. We need friends, we need protectors and we need help and guidance.”

At least 10 bombs exploded in Singapore (April 17, 1964). View

“Another Indonesian bomb – 10th since the beginning of this year – blasted a telephone booth to smithereens and damaged several houses tonight at Kampong Melayu, off Jalan Eunos.”

Tension from within: RACIAL RIOTS IN 1964

Appeal for calm. (The Straits Times, 22 July 1964). View

“A provision shop near Lorong 3, Geylang, was burnt and an attap hut in Lorong Turi, in the Jalan Eunos area, was on fire.’
“At 6.45 p.m., Straits Times reporter Sia Cheong Yew, in a car moving along North Bridge Road, saw at the junction of Arab Street two large groups of people.”
“One man was seen grabbing a big kanda stick and chasing another.”
“At this point dustbins flew into the air from both sides of the road and all traffic came to a standstill.”
“Further down the road, smaller groups of men armed with sticks and chairs were assembled along five-foot paths.”

A broadcasted speech by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (21 July 1964). View

“…We can and we will sort these things out later on. But right now our business is to stop this stupidity. The vast majority of our people want to live in peace with each other…”

“Regrettably, there have been a few deaths both among Chinese and Malays and a few persons injured. Some lorries, cars and scooters have been burnt. But do not take the law into your own hands and try to mete out justice on your own. That is the business of the government. Do not make things worse by yourself trying to act as policemen. To relieve parents of any anxiety for their children all schools will be closed tomorrow, but business will go on as usual tomorrow. Workers will go to work as usual. You should do your duty by staying at home tonight while the Police and the army will see that all this madness is checked and stopped. What has happened cannot be undone. What will happen depends upon what you and the government do. We shall make it clear that lawlessness does not pay. But more important, harmony between our communities must be preserved. This you can help me do.

Photograph of street after curfew (23 July 1964). View

Photograph of roadblock set up (24 July 24 1964). View

Photograph of burnt taxi from riots (25 July 25, 1964). View

Documentary Clip from CNA on racial riots. View

These documentaries provide a summary of the tense, eventful period in 1960s Singapore:

“Diary of a Nation”, a 1988 Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) documentary on the merger and separation, including the racial riots. View

“1960s Singapore”, a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) documentary on Singapore’s independence. View

By Daniel Teo
Published on 22 September 2014

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

The Crescendos (pop band)

Naomi and the Boys (pop band)

The Checkmates (guitar band)

The Quests (guitar band)

1960s: The Golden Age of Singapore Music. View

“It all started, he said, with a performance by Cliff Richard and The Shadows in November 1961. “That concert made pop music seem big and glamorous,” [Joseph Pereira] told LOUD. “The people watching wanted to emulate those five sharply-dressed men in suits.” Emulate them they did: Bands in the mould of Cliff Richard and The Shadows mushroomed all over the island. Prominent recording companies, Philips International and EMI, took advantage of this sudden enthusiasm.”

“The scene waned towards the end of the decade, due to what Mr Pereira called “a hardening of attitudes” towards local music. The British military withdrawal from Singapore saw a drop in demand for gigs and performances, and a government ban on tea dances and live music in clubs contributed to the end of this golden era.”

Apache Over Singapore: The Story of Singapore Sixties Music – Vol.  (Book written by Pereira Joseph C.)

Synopsis: “The Cliff Richard and the Shadows concert in November 1961 opened the floodgates for Singapore pop music. It and subsequent pop music developments made for a very exciting pop scene in Singapore as there were releases to look forward to every week from EMI, Philips, Decca and other record companies, including local labels. With shows almost nightly and tea dances to welcome the week it was pop heaven. This book examines why it was so. Individual profiles of the bigger acts study their careers in details and trends like rhythm and blues, the blues movement and psychedelia are examined. The attitudes of officialdom to this phenomenon in Singapore as well as other factors like the infrastructure that helped the sixties pop music movement are also discussed.”

This book is available for purchase from our Select Books Catalogue. Browse

 Beyond the Tea Dance: The Story of Singapore Sixties Music – Vol. (Book written by Pereira Joseph C.)

Synopsis: “This is the second volume of Joseph Pereira’s comprehensive survey of the Singapore pop music scene in the 1960s. The second half of the sixties saw seismic shifts in the global music scene. In Singapore, newer breed of bands was coming to the fore, many with outlandish names. Tea dances became increasingly popular. Discotheques started sprouting up to cater to a new hip crowd. Pop Yeh Yeh, which had always been active alongside the mainstream pop music scene, came into its own with many releases. Singapore bands were very active playing the British services circuit and in Vietnam. But, as the decade drew to a close, several pivotal events signaled the end of this glorious era for Singapore pop music. Beyond the Tea Dance examines in rich detail all the major bands and singers in this turbulent period.”

This book is available for purchase from our Select Books Catalogue. Browse

Outside of Singapore, 1964 was also the year the world discovered “Beatlemania”.

1964: Beatlemania (The Atlantic, 29 May 2014) View

“John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison set off on a series of tours in 1964, starting in Europe, later visiting the United States, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Beatles fans were so excited and determined to see the band that police sometimes resorted to using fire hoses to hold them back. Their first televised concert in the U.S. was on the Ed Sullivan Show, on February 9, 1964. 73 million viewers watched that performance — 34 percent of the American population.”

On July 2, 1964, The Beatles made a stopover in Singapore for all of 55 minutes:

The Beatles arriving in Singapore. (The Straits Times, 1 July 1964) View

“As soon as the plane touches down, a special van will drive up to the aircraft and take the Beatles to the VIP suite at the end of the departures block of the new passenger terminal.”

Hysterical S’pore teenagers in Beatle battle. (The Straits Times, 2 July 1964) View

“THEY BREAK THROUGH AIRPORT GATES AND CLIMB WALLS | Nearly 3,000 Beatle-struck teenagers screamed hysterically at Singapore Airport tonight for Britain’s top pop-singing group, when they flew in for a 55-minute stopover on their way home…”

The Quests beat Beatles to reach top of Hit Parade (The Straits Times, 20 Nov 1964) View

“Making a debut with their disc “Shanty” a composition of their own, they were at the top of the Singapore Hit Parade Chart shortly after its release – beating to second place a Beatles recording.”

By Daniel Teo
Published on 19 September 2014

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

There were the three “Worlds” which lit up Singapore’s nightlife in the ’50s and ’60s:

New World Park. View

“New World was famous for its cabarets, Chinese and Malay opera halls, shops, restaurants, open-air cinemas, boxing arenas, and shooting galleries. … New World’s cabarets were so raved about that it was said to have occasionally wooed the late Sultan Ibrahim of Johor and his large entourage. Men would pay a dollar to dance three foxtrots or waltzes with cheogsam-clad taxi-dancers.

Malay men were drawn to New World by Bunga Tanjong which hosted bands playing Malay tunes to the beat of ronggeng  or asli  interspersed with cha-cha or rumba. On some nights, they would also threw in the twist and the rock ‘n roll. Men could buy a 50 cent ticket for a dance with the ladies. The early birds would secure the best dancers or their favourite ones and also got seats nearest to the dancing girls.  On some nights Bunga Tanjong could pack up to 500 people. The popularity of Bunga Tanjong inspired acclaimed playwright A.Samad Said to write a well-received play on the life of a cabaret girl, entitled Lantai T. Pinkie (T. Pinkie’s floor).”

Gay World. View

“Patrons at Happy World were kept enthralled by an east-meets-west mix of entertainment; cabaret, ronggeng, bangsawan, wayangs, movies, gaming, sport matches, stunts, circus and shopping. The fees to these recreations were affordable, even to youths.”

Great World Amusement Park. View

“Other mainstays of the park were cabaret, housed by the Flamingo Nite-Club, and theatres namely Canton, Atlantic, Sky and Globe, which screened both Chinese and English films.”

With the opening of Tropicana Theatre Restaurant and Niteclub in 1968, Singapore’s nightlife received an additional boost:

Singapore’s nightlife comes of age (The Straits Times, 20 March 1968). View

“The opening of the unique multi-million dollar Tropicana Entertainment Building this afternoon by the Chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, Mr. P. H. Meadows, heralds the beginning of a new era in the night life and entertainment field in Singapore.”

Tropicana View

“Besides revues and pop singers, Tropicana also featured keroncong (a musical form from Indonesia) ensembles, fashion shows, Sunday tea dances, acrobats, magicians, dagger and fire jugglers, beauty pageants and comedy acts. The house bands which performed at Tropicana included a 12-piece Tropicana orchestra conducted by Aris Salvador, Romy Katindig and the Hi-Chords, Jose Daroya and the Gay Blades and Vittorio’s Blue Six.”

“Tropicana had been fully booked each night for its first three years, but the novelty of its shows began to wear off as competing nightclubs like the Neptune and Golden Million started their own topless revues.”

Iconic to the local entertainment and nightlife scene were the Cabaret Girls:

Singapore Cabaret Girls Association. Annual general meeting election announcement. (The Straits Times, 26 November 1948). View

‘Cabaret girl’ is ‘too degrading’ (The Straits Times, 11 June 1950). View

“Singapore’s cabaret girls think that name too degrading – so they have changed it with official approval. Henceforth, the “Singapore Cabaret Girls’ Association” will be known as the “Singapore Dance Hostesses’ Association”.

[Miss Nancy Ho, president] explained that the association considered the name “cabaret girls” “impolite“ and “discourteous”.”

Dance hostesses celebrate an anniversary (The Singapore Free Press, 29 October 1955) View

“There was plenty of fun and laughter last Tuesday night when Singapore dance hostesses took a night off to celebrate the 17th anniversary of their association.

Concert items included songs in Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokien [sic], a demonstration of the art of Chinese art of self-defence, a fan dance and two Mandarin plays, entitled, “Debts” and “The Oppressed”. Messrs. Pai Yen and Kwan Sin Yi directed the plays.”

[Pictures by Johnny Quek accompany the article]

Cabaret girls now work in bars as well for extra money (The Singapore Free Press, 15 July 1960). View

“A number of cabaret girls are now working as waitresses in bars to supplement their fallen income.”

“Our life is expensive. We should look chic and pretty and it costs money”, she [Maria] said.”

By Daniel Teo
Published on 18 September 2014

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

Take a look at some of these brand and product advertisements of that ‘Mad Men’ era:

• “Economy. Quality. Performance. Style. Peugeot 404″ [Asia Motor Co. Ltd] View
  Another version of the Peugeot 404 advertisement, selling similar product attributes, was in the programme book of A White Rose At Midnight.

• ” We were right to choose an Austin 1100.” [A Mann Egerton Company] View

• “Don’t choose your new car by shooting dice… get behind the wheel! SIMCA, Chrysler” [The Associated Auto Co. Ltd.] View

• “Will we ever kill the bug? Volkswagen” [Champion Motors Ltd.] View
  #23 in this series of Volkswagen advertisements was in the programme book of When Smiles Are Done.

• “My family lives happily with a GRUNDIG TV. Do you own one?” [Kian Gwan Malaya Ltd.] View

• “Aroma Rich. Sensational New NESCAFE … open up – smell that wonderful aroma!” [Nescafe] View
  This advertisement was in the programme book of When Smiles Are Done.
  

• “SHISEIDO. The promise of beauty.” [The Emporium Ltd] View
  This advertisement was in the programme book of When Smiles Are Done.

• A blog post recalling some creative advertising slogans in the 1960s. View.

• A visual display of Beauty and Hygiene advertisements in the 1960s, beyond Singapore. View.

• An article referencing 1964 Pepsi advertisements, titled “Sometimes selling the demo profile of a product rather than the product itself sparks connection.” View. 

By Daniel Teo
Published on 17 September 2014

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

M.E. Constant: “Amateurs on stage: a defence” (Straits Times Saturday Forum, 10 Oct 1964). View.

“I really must take issue with members of radio “Forum” about amateur theatre in Singapore. ….. On the whole, amateur theatre in Singapore is a thriving and highly competent organisation, which deserves every support from people who profess to have the best interest of the theatre at heart…Finally may I respectfully suggest that the gentlemen of the panel, instead of spouting critical clichés and defeatist jargon, come and join, say, the Stage Club, or at least see some of their plays before passing damaging and ill-informed judgements.”

Lim Chor Pee: “Amateurs and critics” (Straits Times Saturday Forum, 17 Oct 1964): . View.

“I was pleased to note that our discussion on the amateur theatre in Radio Malaysia’s Forum of the Air has generated the wrath of some listeners, particularly that of M.E. Constant. The is nothing like wrath to arouse the feeble interest of the public in amateur theatre.”

“Perhaps M.E. Constant has missed the whole point. At the Forum, I particularly stressed the phrase “Malaysian English-speaking theatre,” not expatriate amateur theatre…To say that this is the full flower of the amateur theatre is like saying that the people are perfectly satisfied with colonisalism, why have anything else?”

M.E. Constant: “Balanced theatre criticism” (Straits Times Letters, 10 Nov 1964). View.

“Surely it is the duty of any Radio panel is to give a lively, balanced and well-informed discussion with constructive critism [sic] thrown in for good measure. Not, as in this case, to hold a post-mortem.”

“Let local clubs not be too proud to learn from expatriate clubs.”

Lim Chor Pee: “Stage Club and the critics” (Straits Times Saturday Forum, 14 Nov 1964). View.

“We are not too proud to learn from expatriate clubs. It is our desire to fill the vacuum created by expatriate clubs that led us to form our [Experimental Theatre] Club. I think it is time that people like M.E. Constant realise that it is not only the expatriate club that has something to teach.”

By Daniel Teo
Published on 16 September 2014

 The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done (written by Goh Poh Seng) and A White Rose at Midnight (written by Lim Chor Pee), refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

In the early to mid-sixties, there was a brewing sentiment for the need to forge a local identity in English-language (or English-speaking) theatre. We list a few extracts from some key commentaries reflecting on the theatre scene and its challenges in the ’60s:

Excerpts from a commentary by D. Morton Davies, “The case for a Malayan theatre” (The Straits Times, 20 Nov 1960). View.

“Malayan theatre, like the dew, must just happen. It cannot be forced upon anyone or anything. Everyone says so and not only about theatre. But I feel that of all the arts, theatre is most amenable to Malayanisation. A Malayan theatre IS possible. If we cannot force the dew we can at least bring together the elements that will make the dew for us. The shape will ultimately be based on conventional Western play form, written in Malay with Malayan settings and idioms and examining Malayan problems…”

“Everything keeps pointing towards the Western theatre form. The presentation is straightforward from an audience point of view…

“The need now is plays, plays – Western, translations, or original. Original for preference.”

An excerpt from playwright Robert Yeo’s introduction in the published Mimi Fan book (Epigram Books, 2012, pp. ix). View.

“It is possible to trace the origins of Singapore theatre in English in the two plays Lim Chor Pee wrote and staged in the early 1960s. They are Mimi Fan in July 1962 and A White Rose at Midnight in 1964.

At the time he wrote these plays and had them produced, Lim was seething with what must be described as anti-colonialist fervour. Singapore became a nation in August 1965 after its separation from Malaysia. He probably did not know that this was to happen but Lim had already written and published an article in a local magazine in 1964, in which the prescient sentence is found, “A national theatre cannot hope to survive if it keeps staging foreign plays.” The title of the article was provocative—Is Drama Non-existent in Singapore? (source: Tumasek, 1 January 1964, p. 42)”

Excerpts from an article written by Lim Chor Pee, “Is Drama Non-existent in Singapore?” (Tumasek, 1 Jan 1964, pp. 42-44)

“…English is English as written by the British and no one else could really write English creatively. Perhaps it was part of the colonial tradition that few dared to challenge the myth. I bring this up because I believe that the absence of an English speaking drama in this country is due to the absence of any substantial creative writing, literary or dramatic…

[English speaking theatre] has to start at some point, and this point is the amateur theatre. The amateur theatre anywhere in the world is the place where the future professional theatre begins. And there can be no proper theatre unless there are playwrights. And there can be no playwrights unless there is a theatre to express their plays. In other words, both the playwright and the theatre are part and parcel of the same evolution…

Excerpts from interviews with Lim Chor Pee (2001). Transcripts available at National Archives of Singapore.

“…at that time in England, there was also a new interest in theatre in the sense that there were a lot of emerging youth writers who were writing new plays, people like Harold Pinter and John Osborne…there were quite a few plays then being written which is [sic] totally different from the old type of drawing room drama or comedies and ordinary themes, you know. And they were not more revolutionary in the sense that they wrote about hardships, they wrote about life in its reality and not as you wish to see it to be. So I thought we should have something locally as well to see how… I mean, generate some theatre interest, drama interest, here.

“…in Singapore at the time, the theatre scene was very barren. There was nothing much when I came back in 1960s [from Cambridge]. You find that the only people producing plays regularly was The Stage Club comprising expatriates and the type of plays that they were producing were drawing room dramas… but nothing of the new wave of plays written by the new wave of plays written by the new writers. So I felt that it was not very exciting at that time – theatre, the scene in Singapore.”

Excerpts from an article by Robert Yeo, “Singapore English on Stage” (English in Southeast Asia Conference 1996, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 21-23 November 1996). View.

“The attempt to find a viable and successful stage language in the sixties was successful when the characters are well-educated English speakers and use English as their dominant language; it was less successful when the characters are less educated in English or not at all. For the less educated, the problem is one of the speech being ‘not in character’…

“A second problem about stage language in English is shown up when the characters are not English-speaking at all but speak either only Malay, Tamil or Chinese dialects. How does a playwright represent them in English since English is the writer’s chosen language? Two possibilities offer themselves. The first is to have them speak grammatically in English, because in fact they would be speaking grammatically in their own languages, and to indicate their ethnic origins by pronunciation, tone, articulation and other phonetic means unique to the linguistic group. This is the best solution though it is not entirely problem-free. The second is to represent characters as speaking a ‘broken’ English, one in which the words are English but the syntax is not.”

Excerpts from an article by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, “Finding a Native Voice – Singapore Literature in English” (Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 1989)

“The pattern of Malayan/Singapore writing from the 1940s to 80s is that of premature births and early deaths – a process generally acclaimed with overoptimism on the part of missionizing critics and condemned by so-called anti-colonialist, mostly foreign, observers.

The English-language creative writing scene is as complicated, arduous, and full of contradictions as is the continuing formation of a Singaporean society and nation, and those problems which plagued the pioneers in the late 1940s – problems concerning choice of language, mastery of forms, types of subjects, attitudes towards local colour, and the repressive, suffocating influence of English literature criteria, standards, styles and diction – are still unresolved today.”

By Daniel Teo
Published on 15 September 2014

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.

Mar 18: Rowcroft Theatre Club, Akin to Love by Peggy Simmons. View.

Apr 8: Alexandra Secondary Modern School, Salad Days by Julian Slade & Dorothy Reynolds. View.

Apr 22: Catholic Teachers’ Movement, I’m Bewitched by Friar T.J. Sheridan. View.

Apr 22: The Stage Club, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. View.

Jun 2: The Stage Club, Trial and Error by Kenneth Horne. View.

Jun 10: Rowcroft Theatre Club, Distinguished Gathering by James Parish. View.

Jun 18: Experimental Theatre Club, A White Rose at Midnight by Lim Chor Pee. View.

Jul 2: The Stage Club, The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder. View.

Jul 7: Seletar Theatre Club, The Brides of March by John Chapman. View.

Jul 21: St. Joseph’s Institution Dramatic Society, Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring. View.

Oct 14: Theatre World Association, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Errol John. View.

Oct 15: RAF Changi Theatre Club, Naked Island by Russell Braddon. View.

Sep 4: The Stage Club, The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux. View.

Sep 23: Rowcroft Theatre Club, Outward Bound by Sutton Vane. View.

Nov 4: The Theatre Club, The Tunnel of Love by De Vries and Joseph Fields. View.

Nov 19: University of Singapore Society, Chicken Soup With Barley by Arnold Wesker. View.

Dec 12: The Stage Club, Cinderella [pantomime]. View.

There were many English-language plays staged by various theatre clubs in the 1960s. But English-language plays written by local playwrights were few, and far between:

1962: Mimi Fan, by Lim Chor Pee, Experimental Theatre Club

“The play reflects faithfully a segment of life and living in Singapore, and throughout one is conscious of a mind that has something original to say to an audience which is sympathetic to the growth of Malayan theatre.” ~ An extract from a report on Mimi Fan’s premiere (20 July 1962). View.

1964: The Moon is Less Bright, by Goh Poh Seng, Centre 65

“”Moon” is a political play set against the background of the Japanese occupation in Malaya and the Malayan Emergency which ended in 1960.” ~ An extract from a report on The Moon is Less Bright (25 Oct 1964). View.

1964:  A White Rose at Midnight, by Lim Chor Pee, Experimental Theatre Club

“Miss Joanna Woo, the business manager, said: “This is an ‘angry young man’ type of comedy which should appeal to the theatre enthusiasts who have been complaining about the lack of Malaysian drama.” ~ An extract from a report about a well-known soprano singing in A White Rose at Midnight (9 June 1964). View.

1965: When Smiles Are Done, by Goh Poh Seng, Centre 65

“See Local Comedy, “When Smiles Are Done” By Goh Poh Seng, Presented by Centre 65. At Cultural Centre, Fort Canning, S’pore Tonight – 8.30 p.m. Tickets at $2, 3, 4.” ~ An advertisement for When Smiles Are Done (18 Dec 1965). View.

“A play about family life in Queenstown “When Smiles Are Done,” written by Dr. Goh Poh Seng, will be staged at the New Town Secondary School at 8.30 p.m. on Friday… On Dec. 16 at 8.30 p.m. the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Inche Yusof bin Iskhak, will attend the play at the Cultural Centre.” ~ An extract from a report on When Smiles Are Done (8 Dec 1965). View.

“Dr. Goh Poh Seng, the President [of Centre 65], may be an amateur playwright who has still a lot to learn about the construction of a play, but this did not mar my enjoyment of “When Smiles Are Done,” which this enthusiastic group presented recently at the Cultural Centre Theatre…… The theme was not original, but the play was interesting throughout, well acted and maintained a brisk pace. Above all, it was audible.” ~ Extracts from a review of When Smiles Are Done (2 January 1966). View.

By Daniel Teo
Published on 13 September 2014

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight, refreshes and retells the stories in them through the eyes of four artist-collaborators on 22 September 2014, 8pm at Centre 42 Black Box. Admission is free.

Find out more here.