The Teochew Heritage Awakens with a Lullaby
The TENG Ensemble Pushes to Showcase Dialect Culture
Singapore – The TENG Ensemble (TENG) unveils a music video of the traditional Teochew lullaby Ong Ah Ong to re-invent music for dialect traditions and ignite new interest for Teochew culture and music. The piece is born as an extension of the Forefathers Project and pays homage to the dialect and its heritage. Anticipate the premiere on 27 November 2020 on TENG’s social media platforms.
In ten years, Singapore has seen a decrease in Chinese dialects being spoken at home from 30.7% to 19.2%1. It would not be an overstatement to claim that the predominant users of dialects are the older generations and its appreciation is slowly being lost among the young. TENG is able to breathe new life into dialect music as a result of four years of work in the Forefathers Project. The project involved TENG learning and documenting from musicians in various dialect groups in an effort to innovate age-old traditions. To find out more about the project please refer to the boilerplate below.
Viewers will follow the less-than-enthusiastic daughter and her mother as they go about cleaning up their home during the Circuit Breaker period. As their bond grows stronger, the daughter finds an old camcorder and home videos of her late grandmother gently cooing Ong Ah Ong to her younger self. As the story comes to an end, the daughter freezes in melancholy whilst filming her mother with the very camcorder that captured the memories of her youth – noticing that her mother is no longer the young woman seen in the old tapes. Through the lens of the old, TENG seeks to rekindle memories lost in the clutter of modernity and inspire the young to reconnect with their seniors and cultural roots.
Dr. Samuel Wong, Creative Director of The TENG Company, said: “At TENG, we wanted to make the past alive in the present, and re-introduce this lullaby so that it would not be forgotten amongst younger generations.”
About The TENG Company
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TENG is a leading not-for-profit Singaporean arts company that re-imagines the possibilities of Chinese music. Founded in 2004, the company comprises a collective of music educators, scholars and award-winning instrumentalists. TENG’s work draws its influence from the East and the West; and the traditional and the contemporary. 鼟 (pronounced ‘tēng’) – as one of the most complex characters in the Chinese language – is an ancient Chinese representation for the sound of a drum. It is a symbol of TENG’s aspiration to bring cultures together and nurture future generations of musicians and audiences in Chinese music.
For more information, please visit www.thetengcompany.com
About the Forefathers Project
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In 2016, The TENG Ensemble began a research process into the musics of Singapore’s early Chinese migrants. Interviewing, documenting and learning from a community of first-generation masters, luthiers, instrument dealers and proteges from the local Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew music traditions. The Forefathers Project marks an initiative by The TENG Ensemble that has been four years in the making. Through this project, The TENG Ensemble innovates age-old traditions, celebrates Singapore’s unsung Chinese music pioneers and reimagines the sounds that were carried in the hearts of Singapore’s forefathers.
For more information, please visit https://theforefathersproject.com/
For Media Enquiries
(Mr) Benedict Quek
Associate Trainee (Marketing & Development)
Office: +65 6970 0771
HP: +65 8389 1340
Email: marketing@thetengcompany.com