17 – 18 January 2015

Gallery Theatre, Basement

National Museum of Singapore

The Malay Man, left to care for his aging and decaying Chinese Father, seeks only to love his father till death if only to know who his mother is, or was. That was the Chinese Father’s promise to his Malay and only son. The Chinese Father, anticipating his final breath to be in the arms of his Malay son, can only desire to see his Malay son take off the kebaya forever—or at least till he dies. The Malay Son looks too much like the woman the Chinese Father had once loved and who had given him his Malay Son, but the Chinese Father forgets. Death is inevitable, but the satisfaction in knowing will be sought and must be achieved, and neither the Malay Son nor his Chinese Father will be denied of this pleasure.

“…Joget, Abang, Joget, which is his continued development of “excavating” inherent memories within the body through the abuse of the flesh…was more obfuscated, although it appealed to a small,

dedicated audience.”

- Cheah Ui-Hoon, The Business Times, on Joget, Abang, Joget

ponggurl is a process space conceived by Noor Effendy Ibrahim since 2011 in order to play with his insecurities in a safe environment. ponggurl presented her first production Joget, Abang, Joget (Dance, Darling, Dance) at The Substation Theatre as part of M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014.

How important is it to know what is not yet known? How necessary is remembering that has been forgotten? The Malay Man and His Chinese Father will be a new performance-research into the process of losing, or of loss, when something of great pleasure is gained, or sought after and achieved.