Getai
[2] Additionally, stage setups are usually composed of temporary structures like tents situated in the suburbs of the city- namely, in empty fields, parking spaces or housing estates.
[4] Traditional singers such as Liu Lingling tend to dress conservatively, while young performers drawn to getai may choose more revealing outfits.
The first row of seats at getai performances are also typically left empty and blocked off from the public as they are reserved for spirits and deities whom Chinese communities believe will return to the world of the living during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
[7] Initially a popular form of entertainment found in amusement parks and theatres, getai eventually evolved into performances meant for wandering spirits during the Lunar Seventh Month's Hungry Ghost Festival and audiences in the world of the living.
[10] This style was characteristic of gewutuan (歌舞团), which translates to "song and dance troupe", a popular form of entertainment which first arrived on Singapore's shores in the 1930s but declined in the 1940s.
[14] The first getai performance, known as Dayehui (大夜会), was organised by a business owner at the New World Amusement Park in hopes of attracting more customers to his drinks store.
[19] However, dancing and singing simultaneously during a live performance was not commonplace for getai singers at this point and artistes typically sang while reading lyrics off a music stand.
[23] This was due to an increase in demand for rubber and tin, the two main commodities traded in the Malayan economy, by parties involved in the subsequent Korean War who were in need of military materials.
[18] Furthermore, the dissemination of Chinese mosquito newspapers, the main paper that contained information and articles about getai, also aided in increasing show publicity.
[13] In the 1950s, prominent business owners operating in the getai industry included the Shaw Brothers who owned amusement parks and cinemas which gave them the power to invite performers to various locations under their name.
[27] Performers and show-runners in the getai business then began to capitalise on the growing market for such forms of entertainment and came up with programs which appealed to the public in a sexually provocative manner.
[32] These performances also attracted criticism from Chinese newspapers such as Nanfang Wanbao and XinLi Bao whose writers condemned striptease for threatening public morality.
[30] The colonial police began to exert control over such erotic entertainment under the 1895 Theatres Ordinance which allowed the authorities to revoke show-runners' location permits if performances were perceived as obscene and only return them when the striptease acts were removed from the program.
[33] However, at this time, what was considered obscene and what was not had not yet been defined in local legislations in Singapore and Malaya, which allowed getai program planners and artistes to reinterpret and restructure erotic forms of entertainment to avoid getting caught.
[35] Pressured by religious organisations such as the Malayan Christian Council, Singapore Buddhist Federation and Chinese Young Men Christians’ Association (YMCA), the colonial police clamped down harder on striptease acts by suspending entertainment licences, increasing the frequency of checks on program content and imposing rules which prohibited getai performers from performing risqué programs amongst other criteria.
In keeping up with trends and technology, stage design has shown major changes throughout the years, including upgrading sound systems and adding LED Panels.
[38] On 31 July 2011, getai performances were also held at Orchard Road Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza for the first time with these new sound and light systems.
Nonetheless, in the 21st century, the getai industry continues to be subject to restrictions imposed by Singapore's authorities such as being censored for sexually provocative content like revealing costumes, risqué dances and drag performances.
[42] Additionally, as more residences are being built in housing estates for Singapore's population, the number of performance sites such as open fields in these areas have dwindled over the years, making it challenging for getai show-runners to secure locations for events.
First streamed on the RINGS.TV mobile phone application available on android and Apple iOS, getai performances were increasingly broadcast on Facebook Live as early as 2013.
