GEORGE TOWN, July 31 — Accompanied by the sound of percussion instruments clanging softly in the background, two elaborately dressed puppets make their entrance on stage.
They speak in singsong Hokkien and talk about a marriage proposal for their daughter.
The discussion becomes heated and soon they come to blows; the mother is opposed to the marriage while the father insists the daughter must marry the man even though he is poor.
The two-part show ends with the daughter and her husband visiting her parents with their newborn son.
They announce the baby has brought them good luck, so they come bearing gifts of gold and silver.
This show, titled Kim-giok-buan-tong (
This traditional glove puppet theatre usually acts out stories from Chinese classical novels such as Romance of The Three Kingdoms, Journey to The West and other stories that revolve around values like justice, morality, loyalty and filial piety.
GTWHI general manager Ang Ming Chee (left) and professor Tan Sooi Beng (second from right) pose for a picture with the 'potehi' book set. — Picture by KE Ooi
The potehi, a traditional Hokkien glove puppet theatre, has been around since the 13th century and originated from the Quanzhou, Fujian province of China before it spread to Taiwan and other parts of South-east Asia including the then Malaya.
At one point, Penang had more than 10 potehi troupes that performed regularly but over the years, they closed and today, there are only four remaining.
An ode to ‘potehi’
In a move to honour the history and rich heritage of potehi, a group of researchers, designers and artists led by Universiti Sains Malaysia's ethnomusicology professor Tan Sooi Beng started to document the potehi troupes in Penang and their history.
The three-year project led to a comprehensive compilation of information and photographs on potehi, its rituals; its historical development and the four remaining potehi troupes in Penang.
"We started this project about three years ago because we realised that the potehi is dying," Tan said in an interview with the Malay Mail Online.
The pop-up stage in the ‘potehi’ book set. — Picture by KE Ooi
While the potehi troupes are not short of bookings, they are mostly invited to perform at religious events in front of temples and for the deities.
"No one is watching their performances, except for the deities, so they don't really perform as well as when there is a ‘live’ audience and the standard is dropping," she said.
So, Tan and her group of researchers, who called themselves Kar-wan Potehi (Friends of Potehi), approached the four remaining potehi troupes in Penang.
It was not an easy task to gather information from them as they were always busy and on-the-road, travelling from one temple to another for performances in the northern region.
"We followed the troupes on their travels to see what they do, how they live and how they perform during those temple rituals and celebrations," she said.
Being a potehi performer is not an easy job as it involves special skills; special training is required to manipulate the glove puppets and to sing along as the puppets move according to the storyline.
On top of that, Tan said they do not have it easy when travelling around as the troupes are seldom provided with proper accommodation or even basic amenities such as clean toilets and bathrooms.
"We see how they have no place to stay when they travel to another state to perform, sometimes having to sleep backstage and use the public toilets," she said.
The income does not commensurate with the long hours they had to work and this proved to be a deterrent for many in the younger generation to take up this traditional art form. The puppet theatre was also something that did not interest the younger generation.
"This is why we came up with this box set on potehi, to generate interest and to spread awareness of this dying traditional art form," said George Town World Heritage Inc (GTWHI) general manager Ang Ming Chee.
Potehi, the box set
The box set, produced by GTWHI, consists of one hardcover bilingual book filled with information, pictures and illustrations on the history of potehi, the present-day potehi troupes and the rituals involved in the performances.
There is a DVD of some of the potehi performances along with a booklet with the storyline explained and the most interesting component, a pop-up book of a potehi stage.
The pop-up stage in the ‘potehi’ book set. — Picture by KE Ooi
There are also two mini flip books, one on Journey to the West, and another on Kim-giok-buan-tong. There are also four posters of the four potehi troupes in Penang.
"We tried to make it interesting so that it can attract the younger generation and so far this year, this box set is our bestseller," said Ang.
The book was published and released early this year and is set to be officially launched soon. The whole box set is authored by Tan along with her researchers and artists, Liew Kung Yu, Ong Ke Shin, Foo Wei Meng and Chew Win Chen.
"We hope that with this book, we can encourage more people to watch potehi performances and support the traditional art," said Ang.
She said the potehi troupes may not be short of bookings but they are in dire need of an audience and people to take over when their performers retire.
Most of the performers are old because many were previously Chinese opera performers who retired from the more taxing performance art to take up glove puppet performances instead, she said.
"We need to inject more interest amongst the young to take up this art form and to do that, we first need to create awareness and get the community to give these performers the respect they deserve," she said.
Potehi, unlike other performance arts, was not "glamorous" so the younger generation often turned their noses up at it.
When previously a potehi troupe needs at least 12 people to put up a performance, the shortage of performers means they have to make do now with only five performers.
"The perception of potehi and traditional arts like this has to change and the people must be able to pay them a price that commensurate with their performances so that they can make a living doing it," Ang said.
Ombak Potehi
As a start in making potehi something more "fun" and interesting, Tan also started her own potehi troupe called the Ombak Potehi.
The troupe of 12 is made up of young professionals — including engineers — with a passion for the traditional art form.
Their recent performance of Kisah Pulau Pinang was done in a mix of Penang Hokkien and Malay with English and Chinese translations on a separate screen.
The troupe's aim is to promote potehi and to show that the art form can be modernised with relevant current stories using other languages.
"We also intend to go into schools to train students and start workshops so that we can interest the young in taking up this traditional art," Tan said.
She said one of the ways to revitalise a dying traditional art is to show the community and the technology-obsessed younger generation that traditional glove puppets can also be used to tell modern stories in different ways and using different languages.
"It does not necessarily have to be classical stories and using only traditional Hokkien that most young children might not understand," she said.
The potehi box set is still available at RM188 per set at GTWHI's office at Armenian Street. Email info@gtwhi.com for details.
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