Chinese Opera in a Muslim Majority Country
In Malaysia, about 60% of the population are Muslims who are mostly Malays. Malaysian who are Chinese descendants accounts for about 20%. These Chinese Malaysians have inherited from their forefathers many of the Chinese tradition and culture, one of which is the Chinese Opera. In fact, because of the diverse dialects of Chinese, there are many types of opera. The richer one which I am writing is the Cantonese Opera. Note: Cantonese is commonly spoken in Hong Kong and Guang Zhou province of China.
These photos attached are taken at the Kuan Ti Temple located at a little town called Batu Gajah, near Ipoh Perak. This opera performance is only held once a year, normally in conjunction with a festival celebrating the birth of Kuan Ti, a legendary warrior well documented in the famous “Story of Three Kingdoms”.
For the last few years, I have been visiting the opera performance because I want to capture this rich culture which is fast disappearing. These days, most of the audience are of older age people. Likewise, even the performers are old too. The situation is worst in urban cities. Hardly anyone watches such opera performance. The obvious conclusion is, without young blood in the opera troupe and without young audience, the opera performance will die of natural death.
With rapid changes in technology and vast choices of entertainment, opera will disappear soon. And, before it is really gone for good, I must capture all these as much as possible. And, this is the kind of things I want to share on google map most; no longer just the popular things like hotels, restaurant or cafes.
In short, I like to share things which are historically significant, in terms of culture and humanity. This includes happenings in small towns, be it food or lifestyles because I foresee many small towns will soon be developed and transformed too. We may live in the future but our memories will always be of the past.
P/S : To see more on backstage make-up, please check on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9NB9HprYMY&t=28s