Hossan-ah! Safe and Secure in His Leong Arms
This is a ‘feel good’ show that actually felt good. Hossan Leong knows his audience: he speaks to them, and they speak back. This piece is pretty much everything it tries to be. It was well-intentioned and well positioned – an achievement in itself. Leong states clearly at the start that this evening is “a paying forward” through celebration and recollection of “who we (Singapore) are” and “where we come from”. The evening is punctuated with music and laughter. It’s a very self-assured set up with echoes of Dim Sum Dollies.
Bar a couple of missed beats and sections that requires editing, the performance hits the mark. Leong has an endearing stage persona and the audience loves him. With his occasional accompanist Elaine Chan (what a woman!), they rearrange local classics “Chan Mali Chan” and “Geylang Sipaku Geylang”, and international hits like Elton John’s “Your Song”.
I am not so sure about the bit where he sings about religion. It isn’t unbearably heavy handed, so I let that pass.
My favorite bit of the show is the contest between selected audiences to see who can translate “Queen’s English” into Kopitiam “Auntie speak”. The first few audience members haven’t a clue (they are self-confessed Starbucks patrons) so, unprovoked, the rest of the auditorium chimed in: “KOPI-O SIEW DAI!!” for “coffee with no milk and less sugar”. This was a solidarity moment that is uniquely Singapore.
This show is a testimony of Leong’s ability to connect to his Singaporean audience.