The state engages Penang-born Ah Niu to woo tourists with a video of cultural songs and multi-ethnic dances. Chingay has arrived in Malacca Ah Niu in a new video promoting Melaka Malacca (Melaka in Malay) is riding a tourism high. After the g…
The state engages Penang-born Ah Niu to woo tourists with a video of cultural songs and multi-ethnic dances. Chingay has arrived in Malacca
Ah Niu in a new video promoting Melaka
Malacca (Melaka in Malay) is riding a tourism high. After the gainful pitch of Fan Bingbing with her mere appearance, looking, as some have opined, a "花瓶 (vase)" of a nyonya, Malacca is now using Ah Niu (阿牛) as a singing tourism ambassador. The choice of Ah Niu, who gained popularity with the anthemic and cheerful 乡村 (xiangchun, kampung, or village) sounds of 对面的女孩看过来 (Girl Opposite, Look Over Here) in 1999, could be a response to local criticisms of not using a Malaysian artiste to promote a Malaysian city when the choice of Ms Fan was made. Whether Ah Niu would be a pull, just as Ms Fan was, is not yet clear. He did sing earnestly in Girl Opposite, "不要被我的样子吓坏 (don't be scared by my appearance)." While Malacca, recently saddled with the inaccurate travel guide scandal, is not an unattractive city, it could, similarly, be saying, don't judge us by our appearance.
Ah Niu—known to his parents as Tan Kheng Seong (陈庆祥, Chen Qingxiang)—is as everyman as they come. Born in the northern state of Penang in 1976, Mr Tan has sold himself as a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy, blessed with song-writing ability. His creative output is tethered to his kampung days in Butterworth, three kilometres east of George Town, across the Penang Strait. Just as Jimmy Sommerville (of Bonski Beat fame) made quite a name for himself as a Smalltown Boy, Ah Niu comported himself—and still does—as a village kid. His earliest Mandarin song that became popular, 阿牛和阿花的故事 (The Story of Ah Niu and Ah Hua), written for a competition, is an ode to the young but unrequited love of kampung youth and his lass, Ah Hua, who decided to leave for the big city rather than stay with the kid with a bovine name. She did and never came back. Although the song, with the second half sung in Hokkien, was released in 1996, it could have been a track from Taiwan in 1976. The accompanying music video was, unsurprising, filmed in a kampung.
Whether Ah Niu would be a pull, just as Ms Fan was, is not yet clear
It is not unreasonable to assume that it is Mr Tan's agreeable kampung persona that endeared him to Malacca. To promote the city (rather that the state), two popular folk songs were chosen: 茉莉花(molihua, or Jasmine Flowers) and Rasa Sayang (Loving Feeling, mixed as one track. Malacca's promotional material for the songs states that the musical exercise is salute to 50 years of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China, suggesting the need for one song in Malay and one in Chinese. But the selected tracks have not won immense listener approval. Many Netizens are adamant that Rasa Sayang is of Indonesian origin. Provenance is important even if the lagu (song) is widely sung in Malaysia (and Singapore too—just as Dick Lee!). In the credits of the video, Rasa Sayang is described as "马来西亚民谣" or Malaysian folk song. Molihua is identified as "江苏民歌" or folk song of Jiangsu—provocative Netizens have pointed to its popularity in the drag shows of Thailand, such as those seen at Pattaya's famous cabaret Tiffany's.
Molihua/Rasa Sayang is touted as "新民歌 (new folk song)", which is rather a misnomer, since both tracks are not new songs. The paring may not have been attempted before, but the melodies are familiar and their folk roots unambiguous. Arranged to bring as many musical elements of Malaysia's ethnic music in one song as it can possibly hold, even if it sounds like the proverbial rojak. Similarly, the video features a startling jumble of what Malacca thinks it is: a melting port. The song is presented as a duet: Ah Niu accompanied by the mainland Chinese singer 黄英 (Huang Ying), a schoolyard beauty as counterpoint to Ah Niu's enduring 甘榜仔 (ganbangzai or kampung boy). Both sang with the fervour that illuminated neither the vocalists' sound or tone, nor the specialness of the city in which they were performing. That Ah Niu had to 打鼓 (beat a drum, which he had to learn on the day of the filming) to drum up some performative excitement is unfortunate.
Ah Niu in a duet with Chinese singer Huang Ying
Similar to the mash-up of the music, the two singers are accompanied by a hodgepodge of dancers, dressed as if Malacca is in year-long festive mode. And city folks wearing sarong kebayas and qipaos, and other costumes to Jonker Walk (鸡场街 , Jichangjie) a daily occurrence. Just as ethnic music instruments have to be featured (the Malay kompang and the Sarawakian sape, just to name two), ethnic dress has to be represented in full force. The sarong kebaya is so synonymous with Malacca that even Fan Bingbing could not resist wearing it. So in the video, it has to have a starring role. But, in case you thought they are not gaya (stylish) enough, one of the dancers wears hers, shod in booties! The qipao, too, has a big part to play. But while, the sarong kebayas are colour-saturated, the qipao worn are all in white. And to be sure you do not mistake them from the era of Chinese actress Lily Yuen (阮玲玉, Ryan Lingyu), the qipaos are made sleeveless, with high slits, and one with cutouts at the waist, in case there are viewers with less conservative leaning.
The vocal leads, rousing the action around them with their choreographed moves, are similarly relieved of fashion. Ms Huang is outfitted in a while qipao with a lacy upper bodice and a pair of draped, fall-off sleeves that expose the upper arm—cold shoulder, in effect. She looks the part of a folk singer, but she could as well be a backup dancer, a passing bridesmaid, or a waitress on her way to work. Ah Niu, being a bigger star, appeared to have employed a stylist. His kampung-boy-made-good look is calibrated to look 时髦 (shimao, trendy): He dons a beige, laced, short-sleeved shirt with stalks of crocheted flowers appliquéd to the left panel. This is teamed with slim, white trousers to which a pair of suspenders hung from the waist for effect than practical purpose. He is the 音乐才子 (yinyue caizi, musical talent) on home turf. This isn't selling Melaka the Modern, this is promoting Melaka with traditional charms and folkloric lure. Fan Bingbing may have brought some vestige of glamour to Malacca, but Ah Niu has returned it to its humbler roots.
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