Every year, I design my own personalised Chinese New Year card to wish Gong Xi Fa Cai to my friends, supporters and colleagues. The theme chosen for this year’s card was Chinese opera.
The head gear that I had to wear for the photo shoot was very heavy and very uncomfortable. My dressers had to secure it to my head using various pins and tape. And as for my eyes, the dressers used some cellophane tape to pull back my eyes to make them appear more “sepet”. The flags stuck to my back were also very heavy. With all that weight on my head and on my shoulders, I could hardly smile for the photographer.
The entire process of getting fully dressed took 1.5 hours. I gained a new found appreciation for what professional opera actors and actresses have to go through every night before their performance.
The two ladies who helped apply the make-up for me and dress me up said that Chinese opera is a forgotten industry and art form. They can only perform Chinese opera on a part-time basis because there is not enough demand for it. At other times, they sing for a living instead.
They requested RM1500 from me as the costume rental, dressing and make-up fee. I didn’t intend to negotiate the price as I want to support their pursuit of the Chinese arts. Also, I know that the Chinese opera costumes are very ornate, very time-consuming to make, and thus very rare and valuable.
When I went to the morning pasar a few mornings ago to wish my local constituents a Happy Chinese New Year, some of the people there told me that they were very impressed with my CNY card. Some of them said that in the card, I resemble a famous opera star from days long ago.
I have to thank my friend Leister Yam for conceptualising this year’s CNY card and also the previous two year’s as well.
Overall, I am glad I had the experience of being an opera actress for a day. It is important to support our Chinese traditional arts or else they will just die off and we would have lost our heritage.
If you would like to receive this Chinese New Year card from me, I would be happy to send it to you. Just send your name and full address to my assistant at [email protected]
Xin nien kuai ler! Teresa, your idea is creative, original, reflects the chinese culture, and you look so cute.
Teresa, I’ve emailed for a copy of your CNY poster.
Can you please have it autographed prior to despatch.
Thank you.