This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 23, 2015.

Director Ho Lin Huay’s mother used to tell her constantly, “You can sell your ancestors’ property, but don’t sell their voice.” This became the inspiration behind Tales of 4 Dialects, a new musical by Asia Musical Productions (which also staged Siddharta — The Musical and Princess Wen Cheng — The Musical). 

The premise of the musical, opened over the weekend at Pentas 1, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), is as the title suggests — four stand-alone stories in four Chinese dialects, namely Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew. 

“The whole idea really came about after my mum passed away last October,” recounts Ho. “We are Hakka, and when my parents were around, we spoke Hakka with them. But the next generation, my niece and nephew, they don’t know how to.”

She laments that this is all too common among Chinese families these days: “I remember during a conversation, when she was sick, I mentioned I will try to speak to my niece and nephew in Hakka. For her it’s very important, I didn’t know why.” 

The director believed it’s a given that dialects are only colloquial and perhaps not part of the modern identity of this generation, but after pondering on the subject, she’s come to the conclusion that they are undeniably a part of who we are. 

“Now that I look at it, why do we read history? It’s the same thing, because we should know our past. It’s our roots. Even if you say it’s old-fashioned or clichéd, it’s in our blood, as part of who we are,” she reflects. 

Asia Musical Productions is known for its large- scale productions, and its Tales of 4 Dialects is by no means small. At a production cost of RM400,000, the director says the musical was simply tailored for Pentas 1. Featuring a cast of 27 performers, including one child, it took four dialect coaches to work with the actors. 

“I wrote the script in Chinese, and then the actors rehearsed them in the respective dialects. They will tell you that the singing is not the most difficult, it’s the dialogue. Most of them don’t know any dialects, and even just a couple of sentences got them scratching their head in frustration,” she laughs in recollection. 

The songs in the musical are popular folk songs from each dialect, re-arranged by music director Yuan Leow Yunn. “There are a lot of nice folk songs out there,” Ho points out. “We keep the original flavour of the songs, but it sounds much better.” 

And the result is stunning. Each of the four stories — individually lasting about 30 minutes — was written around the folk songs. Of the four dialects, Hakka is the one closest to the director’s heart. 

“It is inspired by my mum, who was a child bride. She went to the Ho family at age six, and at age 19, she was shipped to Malaya, because my father was born here. They had never met before,” says Ho. “It’s a sad part of her life, because she didn’t even remember where she was from and we don’t have any relatives on my mother’s side. I regret not asking her more about it, so I imagined a story before she came here. Did she ever experience puppy love? What was her life like then?” The story revolves around a hardworking young girl, who meets a boy, “because Hakka folk songs always involve singing to one another”.  

All four stories reflect the life and struggles of early Chinese migrants to Malaya. In the Cantonese tale, a leading Cantonese opera performer flees China during the war and ends up in Malaya. Her assistant, who has brought her son along, loses touch with her husband, who has stayed behind. Soon, the Japanese army invades Malaya, and the fragile new life is thrown into turmoil once again. 

The Teochew tale shows a young man escaping to Nanyang — the Chinese name for Southeast Asia — due to the embarrassment of having his younger brother marry before him (considered shameful in Teochew culture). Lacking in education, he labours for his new family here, only to be disdained and looked down upon. A reflection by his grandson much later discusses the definition of success and responsibility. 

There is also the bittersweet love story told through five Hokkien folk songs Ho feels reflect the emotions a love-at-first-sight couple go through. 

“The show is not just for older people — it is a fun and entertaining show after all, with young actors and actresses, song and dance. But I hope this show can spark some self-reflection. If you look around nowadays, the older folk try hard just to communicate with their grandchildren. They learn English or Mandarin … but if we can just try to pick up even a few words, it’ll make them happy,” says Ho. 

In the finale, the cast of Tales of 4 Dialects conclude with a Teochew folk song that summarises all the stories. Its lyrics ring clear: “One generation plants the tree, the next generation enjoys the shade.”

Tales of 4 Dialects is on at Pentas 1, KLPac, on Saturday and Sunday (3pm and 8.30pm). For tickets and more information, visit www.klpac.org or call (03) 4047 9000.