Reported by Miss Ai Lin of Singapore Heritage Yahoo Grp

STRAITS TIMES
Oct 12, 2006

Clan groups to hold festival on Hokkien culture

By Lim Wei Chean

ALL things Hokkien will be observed next month at a festival. It will promote the culture and traditions of Singapore's largest Chinese dialect group.

A food carnival at Bras Basah Complex featuring over 20 stalls will kick-start the 10-day festival starting Nov 11. Traditional Hokkien dishes such as fried tang yuan in soup, kong ba pau or meat-filled buns, rice dumplings and special rice vermicelli will be on sale.

Also, five genres of Hokkien opera - including hand and string puppetry - will be performed at the Drama Centre.

And the National Library will host an exhibition showcasing popular Hokkien trades of the past and launch a book charting the growth of the community here.

Then, for those who know Hokkien best for its colourful swear words, a forum comprising language experts will be held to discuss the evolution of the dialect.

The festival, costing $300,000, took a year to organise with the collaborative efforts of 19 Chinese clan associations.

Mr Perng Peck Seng, who chairs the cultural committee of the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, one of Singapore's biggest clan groups, said in Mandarin: 'We want to introduce and promote the rich heritage, culture and traditions of our forefathers who came to Singapore.

'Being aware of who we are and where we came from will help build social cohesion in our multi-racial society.'

Over a million Singaporeans are Hokkiens, but many among the young may not be aware of the dialect group's history and culture, he noted.

The organisers expect the festival to attract about 12,000 people from all races and dialect groups.

For futher details about the festival, visit http://www.shhkcom.sg/hokkienfest.html