x W: 26 cm
Together with other folk mythologies and romance stories that form a big part of opera tales, storylines such as Li San Jie’s – as seen on the pocket of this vinyl record – often captured the imagination of the common people, who were able to relate to the hardship and sufferings portrayed in the opera performances. Some of Chinese opera’s earliest audiences were the Chinese immigrants who arrived in Singapore during the 19th century and brought with them the popular culture of street opera. Also known by its Malay term ‘wayang’, which means ‘performance’, Chinese opera in Singapore enjoyed a mass following, in particular during the period up to the 1930s as it acted as both a platform for religious worship, as well as a cheap form of entertainment.
