“One Meenah, One Cheenah, One Singapore”

Reviewer: Liana Gurung
Performance: 22 February 2019

Reprising its 2016 success, Meenah and Cheenah is uproariously navigates of Singapore’s murky ethnic waters with humour, flair and dizzyingly quick costume changes. Judee Tan and Siti Khalijah shine on stage as comic archetypes of the ‘meenah’ and ‘cheenah’, exploring racial identity in Singapore not only as independent quantities but also as a point of intersection. The thread that weaves through the narrative seam is the story of two childhood friends – one Malay, one Chinese – who grow up against a backdrop of familiar Singaporean settings and questions.

But make no mistake: Meenah and Cheenah’s first aim is to delight. From a show-stopping opening number that sets the ecstatic tone of the production, to wigs in every size and colour, to skits that dare to imagine and stretch everything from racial origin stories to multicultural afterlives – there is little that seems out-of-bounds. Social critique and commentary come only as by-products of gags that, on less winning personalities, could be hackneyed or overdone. Jokes that rely on more stale racial stereotypes still form the bulk of the production’s humour, but come creatively repackaged. For instance, Chinese miserliness follows into the afterlife in one scene, while anthropological definitions of the “meenah” and “cheenah” are explored through rather interactive PowerPoint “slides” in another.

Perhaps what is most enjoyable about Meenah and Cheenah is how it celebrates the local vernacular, a ‘quintessential Singaporean-ness’ that can generate a huge sense of camaraderie in its audience. The fourth wall is broken – not just explicitly, such as when Siti and Tan cheekily apologises to the audience for not casting a full CMIO (Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others) spectrum, but also because the audience can see fragments of themselves onstage.

Meenah and Cheenah, ultimately, offers an example of how race can be explored and celebrated on the local stage – provided you have the magnetism, warmth, and comedic prowess of actors of Tan and Siti’s calibre to bring the show to life.

“Bringing out the inner lians in us all”

Reviewer: Isaac Lim
Performance: 12 May 2016

The 90-minute performance, which initially appears to be a low-brow comedy show poking fun at a group of lesser educated Malays and Chinese, turns out to be a pretty good lesson on racial practices and racial harmony.

Well, at least for this reviewer, who admits to being a classy, closeted lian.

The main narrative follows the lives of two best friends who went to school together, vying for the attention of the same Indian boy, till the said Indian boy (named Vicknesh) gets married. Mixed within the comedy sketches, we see two everyday characters facing scenarios related to their respective ethnicity. For example, when two office ladies meet in the pantry during the month of Ramadan, and the Muslim woman, played by Siti Khalijah, has to explain the rules of the fasting month, while fighting the temptation presented by her Chinese colleague’s food.

While Meenah is an endearing way of calling Aminah, a rather common Malay girl’s name in 1990s Singapore (and continues till today), Cheenah has a rather negative connotation. It is now associated with the uncouth Mainland Chinese. However, Cheenah here refers to the ah lian sub-culture in Singapore society, the Chinese counterpart to Minah (which is derived from Meenah).

Alfian Sa’at, the lead writer, together with contributing writers Rishi Budhrani, Fukkah Fuzz (both mainstays in the local stand-up comedy scene) and Josiah Ng deliver an entertaining script packed with nuggets of information and loads of funny sound bites.

That said, the pacing of the show can be tighter. The show started on a high, but as the segments wore on, there was a feeling that the jokes were on repeat mode. Honestly, how many times can you milk the gag of mispronouncing Barbie as Babi (pig in Malay)? Additionally the scene transitions using shadow puppetry projections pale in comparison to the outlandish disco music interludes from the ’90s.

Of the two, Siti Kalijah stands out as she portrays the different Malay characters effortlessly, and with conviction. Judee Tan is less convincing in the first half, as she appears to be less energetic. Tan’s performance did pick up in the second half, especially after her solo dance segment, in which she gyrates to cheesy Mandopop and techno songs.

Despite the presence of racial jokes and slurs, Meenah and Cheenah appears to be a lesson on cultural sensitivity as it tries to clear up the many inter-racial misunderstandings. The show also frames itself as a time capsule, capturing many wonderful and hilarious moments for people who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s.

In all, this appears to be a fresh start to a new comedy franchise by the Dream Academy team, and judging from the audiences’ response, they will need to churn out fresh materials soon.

“More than just entertainment”

Reviewer: Meera Nair
Performance: 15 May 2016

I should begin this review with the actual subject matter of this play. After all, a title like Meenah and Cheenah definitely piques curiosity. This production is a series of sketches that poke fun at the stereotypes of the Malays and Chinese in Singapore. After all, in the name of racial harmony and in real life, we simply do not jest about race.

It is in this very act of rebellion that Meenah and Cheenah entertains. Blunt and no holds barred, this show embraces those unflattering stereotypes and makes them funny. This comes as no surprise as lead writer Alfian Sa’at has never shied away from dealing with race issues. The fact that the sketches are built on real life experiences faced by the production team makes it all the more resonant.

But Meenah and Cheenah is not just about race. It also takes potshots at current and historical affairs. In its imaginative take on afterlife, there are parking aunties and CPF… and a pontianak riding one of those two-wheeled electric balancing scooters. Hang Li Po in hindsight is actually victim of human trafficking who faces major linguistic and cultural difficulties when she arrives in Malacca.

Despite charging through a series of unrelated sketches, the production does not feel messy. In fact, the last sketch neatly recalls the start, giving a nice touch of finality and a sense of having come full circle. The flow of the production is also kept up by Siti Khalijah and Judee Tan, who effortlessly bring energy and humour to their gamut of ‘minah’ and ‘cheena’ characters.

This production actively invites its audience to take photographs and videos, fittingly during a sketch on social media influencers. Nevertheless, I am surprised to find more people watching the show rather than taking photographs  even when they are encouraged to do so.

Meenah and Cheenah presents itself as flippant and comic, but it has daringly taken on a topic that we often turn a blind eye to – that of racial stereotyping. As it turns out, this is the third production I have seen in two months that honestly addresses ‘race’, and it is heartening to see that. By bringing these issues out into the light, these productions raise awareness and teach us to take ourselves less seriously, and if the reactions of the audience around me are any indication, it appears to be working.

In short, this production is definitely entertaining; but it does more than just entertain.