[Theatre] Comedy crosses cultures in ‘Meenah and Cheenah’

“I’m really embracing my inner mina-ness,” said actress Siti Khalijah of her latest theatre role.

She stars alongside Judee Tan in an upcoming comedy sketch show, “Meenah & Cheenah,” where they explore the inevitable humour that occurs when a Meenah (Siti Khalijah) meets a Cheenah (Judee Tan).

The two actresses are known for appearing on Channel 5’s “The Noose” as a variety of roles, including Kim Bong Cha/Rose Pork (Judee Tan) and Madam Yeti (Siti Khalijah).

Preparing songs for “Meenah and Cheenah”

During their preparation for the show, Tan and Siti had to come up with a list of the most mina and ah lian songs they could think of. “We have definitely deepened our inner mina-ness and ah lian-ness through our research,” said Tan. “I enjoyed some of those songs. I don’t know if Siti will admit that though,” she joked.

But Siti confirmed her that she, too, enjoyed the mina songs they compiled. “I’m having so much fun compiling the list! I even added the songs to my playlist! But those songs I like are not the type you should be proudly proclaiming.”

“I fear and feel a slight transition of me becoming more mina— wait I start smoking la, have tattoo la, wear tight tight la,” she said.

“For me the songs are so groan-worthy. Oh my god, it’s so lian!” exclaimed Tan. “But then you’re like aiyah, this group of people — mat, mina, lian, and beng — their songs are so unique to our culture, and a part of our Singapore identity.”

How “Meenah and Cheenah” was conceived 

“It started with “Happy Ever Laughter,” a series of stand-up comedies,” said Siti, referring to the first time she and Tan did standup comedy in 2014. “We were in the same room, helping each other run lines, warm up, that sort of thing.” The duo were in their respective ethnic costumes in the changing room.

“We realised we looked quite ridiculous. She is the Cheenah, and I am the Meenah,” said Siti. The pair even came up with a song for it, as Tan crooned the lyrics of “One Meenah, One Cheenah, One Singapore” to the tune of “One People, One Nation, One Singapore.” Sadly, no online evidence of this exists, as it was done purely in the spirit of fun.

Together with Selena Tan of Dream Academy, the pair gave birth to “Meenah and Cheenah.”

 

Multi-cultural female comedy theatre pioneers

But are they the frontrunners of the multi-racial female comedy theatre duo race?  “This is the first time for women of two different races in Singapore,” confirmed Tan. “We are the pioneers.”

There’ll also be no men in the show. “It’s just us, and we will play the male roles too,” said Tan. “It’s made up of little anecdotes, and short quick sketches. And of course, the main cultural-racial theme, about what happens when two different cultures meet.”

Multi-racial vocabulary

The two learnt new words from each other’s languages during the course of the show as well.

Tan learnt what naik (to go up in Malay) meant in a football context, which is to go into the opponent’s half of the field.

Siti’s new addition to her vocabulary was gang kor (difficulty in Hokkien), which implies discomfort.

Siti, a real mina? Judee, a real ah lian?

“I am,” affirmed Siti. “Because for me, a mina is a Malay girl. We have different types of minas. My friends calls me mina theatre, because I do theatre. There are minas who wear hijabs along with fashionable hipster clothes, and those are mina hijab-sters.”

But what about in the show itself?

“I’m every other mina but mina theatre in the show.”

Tan said, “In VJC, I was labelled as an ah lian, but I’m not really that ah lian. I’m not the typical ah lian, I went to JC, so they called me an educated lian.”

The pair agreed that even if the roles were reversed, they would still ace it.

“I would make a very good Meenah,” said Tan. “Anyway my mother is from Malaysia also.”

“She needs to work on her Malay accent. But the body she have already,” added Siti.

“Siti would make a good Cheenah, because she’s so much more conscientious than me,” said Tan.

 

The show also features a Meenah-Cheenah-off, where the two actresses verbally spar to prove who epitomises their respective stereotypes the most.

“Meenah and Cheenah” runs from 11 to 22 May at Victoria Theatre. Tickets are available for sale at all SISTIC outlets.

This article was also published on Yahoo!