Page 17 - KCMAGAZINE 20230717

A Eulogy:

Departure of Lady Bai

Written by Mr Chan Teik Onn

It is difficult for me to condense all 85 Ma spent much of her life perfecting a craft
years of my grandmother's life in such a short that, according to her, can never truly be perfect,
speech, but if there were anything I could tell you and in this day and age wouldn't yield her any

about her, it would be that she lived and breathed fortune or recognition proportionate to the effort
Chinese opera. she put in.

Ma fell in love with the art form during her At the end of every performance, I would

first viewing of the Legend of Bai Suzhen back in observe her shrunken figure from the back as she
1942, when Malaya was under Japanese occupation, wiped off the makeup that defined her as the Snake
and despite the danger and persecution that came Spirit, visibly exhausted from the ordeal she had
with her interest, it had become her refuge from the put herself through, and yet she would turn to me

pain of poverty, fear, and suffering. with joy in her voice and offer to take me out to a
nice dinner.
Ma had always referred to me as Xiao Qing,
the trusty confidant of her Bai Suzhen. Ma loved Chinese opera with fierce

intensity, and even when the number of audiences
Having both working parents often meant dwindled to a point where she had to perform
spending much of my holidays with Ma, and she in front of rows of empty seats, her resolve never
used my company every chance she got. She would wavered.

take me to the local temple near her home, just
to watch her practise with her troupe. Ma would She still put in the work.
spend an entire morning singing and speaking in a
high-pitched voice, so loud that her voice could fill She still showed up to practise despite her

the entire hall, and later in the afternoon, she would family's advice, even as her memory and muscles
rehearse the play in her white robe and jewel- failed her.
encrusted headdress with the rest of her troupe.
And despite all this, she still had plenty of

It was there that I got to experience the room in her heart for her granddaughter. tenacious woman, I am honoured to have been Ma's granddaughter, and by extension the recipient of her
inner workings of a Chinese opera performer. wisdom, love, and indomitable will to carry this tradition to her last breath.
As I took care of Ma in her last days, she
There was a common saying that one would often joke that she was the reincarnation of No one truly knows what happens to a person as they journey into the great beyond, but I believe

glorious minute on stage takes ten years of hard Bai Suzhen, and even as her memory deteriorated, Ma has finally earned her peace, reunited at last with my grandfather atop the peak of Mount Emei.
work off stage, and upon seeing Ma in action, there she would still recognise me as her Xiao Qing.
was no doubt it was true. I am eternally grateful to have been shaped by her loving presence.
As much as it pains us to lose such a pure, Illustration by Chong En Ce

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