Mrs Joanna Wong Quee Heng （胡桂馨） is recognised as one of Singapore’s cultural pioneers – a well-known name and face in Singapore, not only for her contributions to the arts, but also for her professional achievements and community service. She was the first Chinese opera artist to be awarded the Cultural Medallion by the Singapore government, in 1981. She has also been awarded the Public Service Star (BBM) and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1998.
Born in 1939 in Penang where she first learnt Cantonese opera, she moved to Singapore to pursue her studies at the University of Singapore where she graduated in 1962, and continued to perform Cantonese opera while working at the university. She performed with the Kong Chow Wui Koon opera troupe and in 1981, co-founded Chinese Theatre Circle. Under her leadership. Chinese Theatre Circle has performed over 2,000 shows in Singapore and over 20 countries.
Joanna was at the forefront of efforts to preserve the traditional art of opera in a rapidly modernising Singapore in the 1970s. Through her efforts, Cantonese and Chinese opera – previously seen mainly as ‘street wayang’ – were transformed when they started to be performed regularly indoors, in theatres and were included in mainstream national arts festivals such as the Drama Festival and Traditional Theatre Festival. She introduced English subtitles to opera performances for the benefit of English-speaking audiences as newer generations started to lose touch with the Chinese ‘dialects’ such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew. She also nurtured newer generations of opera performers such as Lou Mee Wah, See Too Hoi Siang, Lee Sze Yau, and others.
In 2015, a book about her life and her journey in Chinese opera was published. In 2019, Joanna celebrates her 80th birthday – this occasion will be commemorated by a special performance featuring dozens of her students past and present, on 3 August 2019.
JOANNA WONG: CANTONESE OPERA ARTIST 