Saturday, July 14, 2007

Dim Sum Dollies in History of Singapore

This afternoon, watched the "Dim Sum Dollies in The History of Singapore". I thought the play was really whacky and witty on one hand, where it brought in 'stuff' that we could associate with... on the other hand, it reminded us of some episodes of our History:

  • the little island of Temasek that no one of that 'period' was interested - Julius Caeser, Ghandi, Cheng Ho, and several others made their appearances... hahaha... yet nobody wanted to claim ownership of the island simply because... it's too small!
  • Then came our "Palembang Prince" who liked to 'relax at a corner' - one day was driven by his mum to look for city ... and there he travelled with "Siti".
  • Next came the ERA broker... hahaha... to 'sell' the island to him - with lots of trees, 3 natural reservoirs and er... natural resources??? Lion! hahaha... He bought it because there's this creature 'lion' there!!! hence, naming the island, Singapura.
  • The pirates at the straits of malacca were not spared either... then it also talked about the influence of the missionary schools... and brought in the River Dance that was once popular in Singapore, too!
  • 'en-bloc' in the late 60s... The 'integrated resort'... "free port and therefore no tax"... hahaha... these are familiar stuff that echo some of the thoughts... and certainly, the witty "lucky-lee", "...-lee", etc... subtle yet obvious :D
  • Of course, how could this do without a few people all in white, the 'lightning" sign, and the talk of the tear-sheding moment in the mid-60s!
  • It will not be complete without the mention of the invasion of the Japanese... then came with the "NTUC" comfort women... the banana money (that refers to the Japanese money!) and the talk of our relationship with our closest neighbour!
  • Of course, it also touched on the closelessness of the neighbours in the kampong compared to what we have today.
  • The props are simple - make-shift 'wooden boards' - they are good enough :D
  • There were also clips of familiar music pieces that I learnt in my primary school days - "Singapura", "Rasa Sayang", "小人物的心声", "雾锁南洋", the Tamil song that I could never the name, oh yes, our Pledge!

It was a good one :D Hm... an NE lesson in a light-hearted manner....

Quoted from the sistic website "Catch Sang Nila Utama wondering if it truly was a lion he saw, Raffles leading his contingent of mosquito-beating ang mohs, bungling J-pop pilots and clueless British soldiers deciding where to aim their big guns!The Dollies breathe new rib-tickling life into Samsui Women, Ah Ma Chehs, Malay Kampong Beauties, Money-lending Dhobis and Opium Dens - then morph into terrifying Peranakan Matriarchs and Hainanese Chefs whipping up killer pork chops!From Cavemen roaming our fair shores, to getting kicked out of Malaysia. From tea dances and beehives to giant amusement parks. There's a tear-jerking ballad or show-stopping tune waiting to be sung!"

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