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Tham Fung Meng and Chan Mei Yin are two highly celebrated Singaporean Cantonese opera performers. Meng created the Yimin Opera Troupe and continually impresses audiences with her style and skills. Yin performs as the male character in an all female company. Cantonese opera is an extremely popular performance genre in Singapore and there are many companies devoted to its performance and study. This is a traditional art from that has existed for centuries. Many tourists appreciate the enormous dedication of opera performers and attending a production is one of the biggest attractions for guests. A fine evening for locals and tourists alike includes dinner at the best Singapore restaurants followed by a Cantonese opera performance.

Because the opera is such and integral part of Singaporean culture there are many productions and companies from which to choose. While most operas contain similar themes and the nature of the performance is extremely stylized, each performer, play and company brings something special to the scene. Some of the more prominent Cantonese opera companies include The Choy Brothers Opera Troupe, and the Chinese Theatre Circle, which is the most active of the Singapore theatre companies.

Tham Fung Meng studied with the Chinese Theatre Circle as well as some of the most highly acclaimed artists in China. She directed the Echo Cantonese Opera Group at the Eunos Community Centre in 1988. Also of that year she formed the Yi Meng Cantonese Opera Group. One of her most renowned performances was as the Princess Turandot in 1999 with Wu Suet Yee. She partnered with Yee again the following year with their performance of three opera excerpts. Chan Mei Yin performs regularly with the Kreta Ayer Community Centre Opera Troupe. She is also the company’s director. This extremely popular and well-established company is based on an all female cast. Yin is an incredibly talented singer who will usually play the male character in the productions.

Understanding the customs and rules of etiquette is important to one traveling to any foreign country. The same of course, goes for visiting South Africa. For instance, just the simple greeting, the giving of gifts, the behavior expected when visiting one’s house for dinner is an opportunity to either offend someone unknowingly, or to react in a gracious manner through the knowledge of these customs.

When meeting a person in public, such as on a city street or in some of the best hotels, South Africa styles of greetings vary according the heritage of the person you are greeting. Some of the people from South Africa will greet foreigners with a hand shake and a smile, while keeping eye contact. If greeting a South African woman it is best to wait for her to respond first, as not all the women of the country are comfortable with shaking hands, and will just merely nod their head.

There are also unspoken rules regarding the giving and the receiving of gifts. Gifts should always be wrapped with care, as it is the effort that goes into the decoration, as well as the gift, that is appreciated. When given a gift, it is polite to open it immediately. To accept a gift but wait until later to open it may offend the giver. Most of the time gives are exchanged for Christmas and to celebrate birthdays, however if invited to one’s house, one must never fail to bring a gift for the host. A simple flower arrangement or some candies are all that is expected.

When dining at the house of a South African, it is important to be on time and to call ahead to find out if there is anything the host would like you to bring. Casual clothes are generally not worn, those such as shorts or jeans, unless it is known that this will be a casual event. Most of the time, those attending the houses of others tend to dress up just a bit. And as it is just simple polite behavior, it is in good taste to offer to help to clean up after the meal. These simple niceties and acts of politeness will generate a feeling of ease when attempting to understand another culture, and in avoiding causing unnecessary offense.

One of the major cultural elements of New York City is its theater scene and rich theatrical tradition. To have seen a show on Broadway is something most people slip into conversations as a personal boast. Taking this a step further, there are those individuals who have the privilege of seeing multiple productions and approach their boasting from the perspective of a critic. However, what most of these people have in common is a genuine love for the stage and respect for this great theater town. For tourists visiting the city, catching a show is usually at the top of their list. And the best New York City hotels are excellent resources for making reservations.

John Colton’s play The Shanghai Gesture is currently playing at the Julia Miles Theatre. Marsha Sheiness created the adaptation for this production of the 1920s melodrama. It is set in China during the roaring twenties. This was a lively period, or is interpreted as such in the play, when opium addiction was common and the play deals with some of the shadier aspects of life, including the sex slave industry. The play was adapted for the screen in 1941, though it had experienced a great deal of censorship prior to that.

John Colton was born in Japan in 1886. His father was an English Diplomat, which is the reason for the family being in Asia. Colton eventually came to America where he first found work as a drama critic. By 1922 he had his first New York production, Drifting, which he wrote with D. H. Andrews. This play dealt with the life of a woman who was on her way to becoming a prostitute. This would be a standard theme, or a variation of it, in a lot of Colton’s work. The two biggest hits of his career include The Shanghai Gesture and a play called Rain. He wrote Rain with Clemence Randolph and the story was based on a story by Somerset Maugham.

Artist Chen Chong Swee was born in China and moved to Singapore after having finished his studies at the Fine Art Academy. He is one four artists who were based in Singapore for much of their lives and together created the Nanyang school of painting. The four of them had taken a trip to Bali the year before and were inspired by the country; so much so that the result was a new approach to subjects and their perspectives in painting. They painted on the streets and in the best Singapore hotels, finding fresh views for their work. This resulted in a combined approach to their painting. Each of the artists had been educated in traditional styles of painting and wanted something more in their own approach. Their Modern perspective combined Eastern and Western philosophies. Today, they are still highly esteemed and their work has a lasting impact on art students in Singapore. In 1994 Sotheby’s held an auction and the proceeds were intended to provide scholarships for young artists. It is fitting that of the works sold, Swee’s paintings were sold in the highest number. He was a teacher and believed in the education of new artists. His works provide inspiration as well as financial assistance to the new generation.

Throughout his life, Swee taught and created his own work. He was respected for his talent as an artist as well as for his personal character. His approach to teaching and to his work was thoughtful and philosophical. In his art he intended to make the meaning of it accessible to the viewer. This tied him to traditional thought and differed from the Modernist tendency to alienate an audience. Swee believed this was contrary to the purpose of art and thought the intent of an artist was to communicate with their audience. To him, art should be understood. He believed artists and writers were creating not only for themselves but that the meaning of art was to give an understanding to the people. He wanted the audience to know what he was trying to say. As with the other founders of the Nanyang school, art had a spiritual significance and should be shared with the world.

The islands off the coast of Spain are known world wide. All have mild and temperate climates and pristine beaches. Throughout history many travelers have passed through the waters of the Mediterranean and stood on these coasts, and more recently the world of tourism have brought many strangers to the towns on these islands. The locals here consider no one a stranger though. The locals have the reputation of welcoming all with open arms, and should one step into a town here, one would be a stranger no more. The best Balearic hotels treat travelers as family, and what a better and more substantial way to visit, than to really get to know those in your care. The islands are similar in their tranquility, lush farmlands and history, rich folklore and history, the beaches and the forests, but like children from the same family, they have similarities and differences. The personality, while still inherently Spanish, changes from island to island. While Ibiza is the wild child, known to throw late-nite parties, Cabrera and Formentera are quiet and poetic in nature. Mallorca is the environmental sound community. While all the islands are known to protect what is theirs, the city of La Palma became the first to use energy saving light bulbs in all the traffic signals and throughout the rest of the city.

The islands have been occupied by many different cultures, from the Romans to the Greeks to the Carthaginians to the Byzantines. This, while dramatic and terrifying throughout history, is part of the reason why these islands and their occupants are so hospitable currently. Monuments and architectural structures still stand today as a testament to all that has occurred here over the years. And all the islands have sites which draw archaeologists the world over to these shores. Many dating back to prehistoric times. And in more current history, the struggles between the inhabitants and French, British and their own mainland of Spain, has given this area of the Mediterranean quite a bit of character. And what is better than beauty, with character to back it up, all the while creating a region so much the more beautiful for the life that has been lived and is continued to be lived here. And as follows with beauty and character, the islands have become rich with art, music, and food. Throughout the year there are many festivals honoring historical battles or traditional beliefs. Lively celebrations of history, the good and the bad. For it all plays a part in the whole and the now.