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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
Ko-tai performances usually start at 8 p.m. and end before midnight. The four-hour performances are normally divided into four parts: 1) popular songs; 2) comic sketch; 3) instrumental interlude by the band, and popular songs; 4) comic sketch II. Although each show has the same format, different songs and skits are presented each night.
After a brief discussion of the nature of the songs rendered, I shall analyse in detail the content of the comic sketches performed. Such uneven treatment is justified in view of the fact that for the audience, the comic sketches are the highlights of the evening. Their popularity, I shall argue, is directly related to their content which by and large focuses on issues relevant to the lower-class Chinese audience. In this regard, the ko-tai is not just a colourful variety show.
Popular Songs
Popular songs are presented by a succession of female and male singers dressed in Western clothes and accompanied by electric-guitar bands. The repertoire usually includes Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien songs made popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong and which are available on cassette tapes, records or even played over the state radio in Malaysia. Occasionally, American and English top hits are also presented, while local Chinese, Malay, and Indian songs are increasingly sung. These songs deal with themes which attract the younger generation. For example, some songs such as the one below remind those in the audience who have come from the rural areas, of life in the village:
Sister washes clothes by the river,
Brother looks after the cows and goats in the fields.
The beauty of the village cannot be forgotten
Now I'm far away from the village;
Every night I long for the village and feel sad
Thinking of the village, thinking of dad and mum.
My heart is full of longing, Ah!
When can I return? Ah!
When can I see dad and mum?
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