The first Singapore Teochew Festival 2014 - Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza

 In conjunction with the celebration of The Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan's 85th anniversary, the clan has organised the Singapore Teochew Festival which began from 25 September and will run till 5th October. Promotional efforts for this festival began with some very catchy jingles which can be seen on Facebook and YouTube where people from various ages and all genders gather to sing the jingle in the Teochew dialect. Broadly translated, the lyrics mean "Teochew people are one family". However, this does not mean that this event is strictly meant for Teochews but it is also targeted at non-Teochews who would like to find out more about the customs, traditions and unique practices of this dialect group.

One thing very commendable about this festival despite it being the clan's first attempt at organising this was that they had the foresight or were thoughtful enough to build an air-conditioned tent at the Civic Plaza. Given the recent hazy weather which essentially means sweltering hot conditions especially during afternoons or when the venue is jam-packed with people on weekends, you can imagine how much the visitors and crew would appreciate the aircon so that it doesn't get everyone hot and bothered. If you have to jostle with the crowds while trying to look at the exhibits or Teochew-related merchandise on sale, it can be such an uncomfortable experience and will greatly reduce the willingness to spend a longer time at the event venue. The only areas which don't have the benefit of the cooling aircon are the food street and outdoor sitting area for people to have their food which I think is fine because of the use of fire to cook the food and the lingering smell of the food will not dissipate quickly in an air-conditioned room. Alternatively, if you are OK with standing while eating, there is the air-conditioned standing area with tall tables for you to eat what you buy from the food street. I chose the aircon over seating so it was very enjoyable not to be sweating over my food, literally.

Conversely, the biggest issue I had was the use of coupons to purchase items. I can imagine that the organisers had good intentions by implementing such a system so that the vendors won't have to handle the cash at the end of the day and it's less risky to hold on to the coupons rather than cash. However, for the visitors, imagine having to queue at the booths to buy the coupons and having to make sure that what you intend to buy must match the worth of the coupons you are holding on. That means you either have to check out the prices of the items you want to buy before buying the exact amount of coupons or you'll have to buy a fixed amount first and make sure you use up everything before you leave the venue. I took the second option and had a hard time deciding how best to use up the coupons at the food street. Interestingly, when I asked the crew manning the coupon booth if people are required to use coupons for the purchase of more expensive items such as jewellery (SK had a huge booth there selling gold jewellery for Teochew weddings), they confirmed so. Imagine having to buy hundreds of dollars worth of coupon first before you can buy your jewellery! Perhaps they should restrict the use of the coupons to the food street where hygiene is better maintained through the use of coupons rather than cash and the transaction amounts tend to be smaller. Seriously speaking, it's not good for the merchants too if people are put off by the idea of having to get coupons before making their purchases. Maybe cashless transactions would be the way to go for them while coupons are restricted to small items only?

Frankly speaking, even though there were some live demonstrations on Teochew art-related merchandise such as this lantern-making section and another of making clay figurines, I felt that the commercial aspect of this festival seemed to be stronger than that of the cultural aspect. It also didn't help that the portion showcasing the history of Teochews in Singapore and some of the unique practices was restricted to the far right corner of the hall so I didn't feel that it provided enough information especially for those who know close to nothing about the Teochews. There were really not that many exhibits to look at except for the traditional wedding items and those of Teochew migrants who came to Singapore and brought along items which showcased their lives then. Of course, given that this is the very first Teochew festival, sponsor support from the vendors would have mattered a lot so I guess it is normal to see the commercial aspect of the festival being more prominent. Perhaps with more feedback from the visitors and expanding the area allocated to showcasing Teochew culture, the organisers will be able to do a better job in terms of balancing these two areas in future editions of this festival.

Other than traditional items and specialty products offered at the festival, what caught my attention was a series of "modern" items i.e. using Teochew symbolic items such as png kueh, opera masks, motifs in products such as notebooks, T-shirts, canvas bags. This seemed like a move to make the Teochew culture "hip" in the eyes of the youngsters which I think it's good because clan associations tend to have an old-fashioned image. Through this festival and the marketing of such products, it rejuvenates the image of the clan associations and entices the youngsters to delve deeper into their culture through the exposure to such trendy items. Although the initiative may be good, I think there needs to be some work done to make the merchandise more attractive in terms of its quality and price. For example, I was quite interested in getting the notebook with the opera faces on the cover but seeing that there are no lines in the notebook and the binding is on top rather than at the side (didn't really suit my needs), I didn't think it was a good deal to get something like this at the steep price of $16. Perhaps something like this would have been more attractive if it was marketed at say, $10? It would also be nice if the clan association can continue to develop new product lines and make the merchandise more readily available e.g. sell it online so that the general public can still gain access to these items even after the festival ends.

Last but not least, the food street which honestly is not a long street of food stalls, is a pretty small area where I counted 9 stalls selling various signature Teochew food items like braised duck rice, bak kut teh, fishball noodles, or lua and desserts. The first item I got was the braised duck rice set which was a tad expensive at $10. Nonetheless, they gave me a drumstick's worth of meat and added a few more slices so I didn't feel that shortchanged until I came across a famous food blogger's photo of the same dish where he had his duck meat sliced nicely and thickly (compared to mine). Maybe they do treat the media and members of the public slightly differently? Anyway, this braised duck rice is from Jianye Restaurant which I admit I've not been to or never heard before. I liked the duck meat which was tender and flavourful but the sauce was a bit too salty for my liking. On hindsight, I should have told them to go easy on the sauce but given how watery it looked, I thought it wouldn't be that salty and I was so wrong about it.

To end the visit, here was the assortment of steamed snacks I got from the food street. From left to right, the Teochew meat pau, the crystal buns (savoury version on top, sweet version below) and the Teochew siew mai. The meat pau was kinda disappointing because the filing was quite little compared to the thickness of the skin. As for the crystal buns, the sweet version was slightly better although I still miss the ones I had at Ghim Moh long ago. Thankfully, the siew mai was pretty decent and surprisingly didn't taste too different from the Cantonese version which you usually get at dim sum places. I guess depending on individual tastes, your experience at the food street may be a string of hits and misses so I can't say for sure if all the items on sale there are nice or vice versa. However, I think that there are some items which seem a bit overpriced but I guess it can't be helped too at such events.

To sum it up, I think the Teochew Festival was a great success in its pre-launch marketing through the use of the jingles and social media to spread the word. Not only were there many elderly people at the festival, I saw many youngsters and people in my age group too. As such, this succeeded in bringing together people from all walks of life be it they are Teochews or not. However, more can be done on some of the aspects I highlighted above so I look forward to seeing an improved version of this festival in time to come.