7/25/2023 0 Comments Chinese puppetry in singapore![]() "Nobody knew who I was, and that's where I had to put in a lot of elbow grease. On overcoming difficultiesįrankie may have his own workshop and a dedicated team helping him today, but his success wasn't achieved without overcoming adversity.Īpart from having to learn everything from scratch, Frankie also had to carve out a name for himself as a performer. Many a time, Frankie has the audience come up to him to tell him that his puppets resemble their friends as well. "The puppet was made for a Peranakan festival, and when my brother came to the show, he saw the puppet and said, 'That looks exactly like our father!'"Īnd it's not just his family members. In fact, it was his brother who pointed it out when he went to watch one of Frankie's shows at a festival. Speaking of dreams, Frankie revealed that he once unwittingly created a puppet that resembled his biological father, whom he had never met, as he was adopted as a child. "Sometimes you look at a person, and you think 'Hey, he looks like a puppet', or sometimes I read a book, or watch television and an idea hits me. When asked where the inspiration for his projects comes from, Frankie replies without much hesitation: "Anywhere and everywhere." "From making it, rehearsing with it and finally bringing it out - that took me about 10 years to accomplish." Uncanny resemblances The deck is then flung into the air, and the dog would pick the selected card. "An audience member would select a card, which would be shuffled back into the deck. One of these decade-long projects is a dog puppet which Frankie created to do magic tricks. This process of helping his creations find their 'calling' can sometimes be as quick as one week, or as long as a decade. Then from there I make adjustments to the strings or the controller to help achieve its 'calling'." "I have to then experiment and see what the puppet's potential is. "You can't force a puppet to do something," he quips. He shares that one of the first puppets he created - a juggler - was initially meant to be a pianist. "But sometimes the puppet may not move the way you want it to move, so from there I'll redesign it and rework my ideas." For example, if I want to build a juggler, I will design the controller and the strings based on that. "I first need to have a concept - an idea of what I want the puppet to do. So, what does it take to create a puppet? According to Frankie, it's more than just getting crafty. While several of them are displayed at his workshop in MacPherson, he shares that there are many others that have been put away in storage. To date, Frankie has created more than 300 puppets and marionettes by hand. I guess that was my training ground," he mused. "From there, I started to learn about levers, springs and stuff. He also credits his inquisitive nature, which spurred him to take things apart and try to put them back together. It was a lot of trial and error from what we saw on television, and from there I would reverse-engineer and experiment from there," explains the 60-year-old, who performs with his puppets at events. Now that he's been in the business for more than 30 years, Frankie tells AsiaOne that he actually wanted to be a magician, but decided to turn to puppetry as it was an untapped market back in the 1980s. ![]() This ordinary evening routine of his would eventually inspire him to become a puppeteer himself, going by the stage name Frankie Malachi. Why I Do What I Do is an original AsiaOne series where we showcase people with uncommon professions and what it takes to get there.Īs a child, Frankie Yeo loved watching The Muppets on television every night while having dinner. Starting from 20 August, look out for the return of physical programmes which include the street lantern light-up, official light-up ceremony, live performances and both offline and online workshops and activities.Īll these and more that everyone can look forward to. This year's festival will see a line-up of exciting hybrid programmes that will be sure to delight your family and loved ones. They are best enjoyed with a strong, palate-cleansing cup of Chinese tea. Today, you’ll find them in many varieties, from traditional flavours with lotus seed paste and egg yolk, to snowskin versions filled with everything from chocolate to champagne truffle. ![]() Legend has it that they helped to free Yuan China from Mongol rule, after rebels organised an uprising by passing messages hidden in these seasonal pastries. Without a doubt, mooncakes are the main highlight of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
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