The Teochew Store Blog / culture

In case you have not already heard, a Teochew-language film has been making waves in China in recent weeks, reportedly surpassing the 100 million yuan mark at the local box office. Here, we take a brief look at Dear You — Chinese title 給阿嬤的情書 (literally, “A Love Letter to Ah Ma”) — while reflecting on those at the heart of it: mothers, the pillars of our families.

On this very day, we wish all our mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.

Ling Goh was born into a Teochew opera family. For more than thirty years, she has committed herself to preserving and developing Teochew opera and Teochew iron‑rod puppetry. Ling Goh also established the first cultural arts space in Malaysia dedicated to Teochew opera — the Teochew Puppet & Opera House.

Throughout her journey of preserving and promoting Teochew performance arts, Ling Goh has boldly embraced innovation, incorporating elements of modern theatre and musicals into traditional performances, thus attracting greater attention and participation of the young. At the same time, she has actively promoted Teochew opera and iron‑rod puppetry beyond the Teochew community, enabling people of other ethnicities to understand and appreciate their unique charms.

Recently, the Teochew Store spoke with Ling Goh in Penang to learn about her experience in passing on Teochew opera and iron‑rod puppetry, and managing the Teochew Puppet and Opera House.

三十多年来，出生于潮剧世家的吴慧玲，一直坚持传承和发展潮剧及潮州铁枝木偶艺术，并在马来西亚槟城开设了全大马首家潮州戏曲文化艺术空间——潮艺馆。在传承的道路上，吴慧玲女士勇于创新，将现代戏剧、音乐剧等不同元素加入到传统表演中，吸引了更多年轻人的关注和参与。与此同时，她也积极推动潮剧与铁枝木偶艺术走向更广阔的舞台，让更多其他族群了解和体验潮州戏曲的独特魅力。

潮舗 The Teochew Store 在槟城连线吴慧玲女士，请她讲述自己传承潮剧、铁枝木偶艺术，以及经营潮艺馆的心路历程。

冬節 ,食圓大一歲 Dang Zoih , Ziah I Dua Zeg Hue

Winter Solstice, “eat the dumpling balls, and you will be one year older.”

By Teochew tradition, we are all older by a year today. 

依潮州传统，今日我们皆添一岁。

How wonderful would it be to have our own Teochew birthday song to sing?

若有一首属于自己的潮州话生日歌同庆，该是何等美妙？

Stay tuned 敬请期待后续……😜

For over four decades, Professor Lim Lunglung (林伦伦), a leading Teochew language scholar, has devoted himself to preserving and promoting the Teochew language and culture. He has published more than 40 books and 130 academic papers, including the acclaimed Teochew Family Values 《潮人好家風》 series (Proverbs / Classical Poems / Nursery Rhymes).

Professor Lim was recently in Singapore to serve as a judge for the annual 來拼潮州話 contest. While here, he also delivered lectures at the Chui Huay Lim Club and the National University of Singapore (NUS), exploring how Teochew proverbs reflect the worldview and life philosophy of past generations. The Teochew Store took the opportunity to speak with him about his lifelong mission to keep the Teochew language and culture alive, both in China and abroad.

Speaker: Professor Lim Lunglung, renowned specialist in Teochew language and culture

Venue: Chui Huay Lim Club, Singapore

Date & Time: Sunday, 12 October 2025, 3:00 PM

Admission: Free. Please register via the QR code as seats are limited.

For half a century, Sin Ee Lye Heng Teochew Opera Troupe (Iron-Rod Puppet Troupe) has dedicated itself to preserving and evolving Teochew street opera. It is the last and only remaining Teochew iron rod puppet troupe in Singapore.

In an interview with The Teochew Store, Christine Ang, the third-generation successor of Sin Ee Lye Heng, shares how her family has carried on the troupe's legacy with love across three generations.

Xiangzi Bridge 湘子橋 (Teochew: Siang-zi kie), the grand old bridge of Teochew, was first built in 1170 during the Song dynasty. Ingeniously designed with a movable central section of boats to allow river traffic on the magnificent Han River 韩江, it’s the world’s oldest bascule bridge.

A masterful display of puppetry, live music and opera singing by Sin Ee Lye Heng Puppet Troupe 新加坡新怡梨興潮剧团（铁枝木偶剧团), which thoroughly entertained and mesmerised a healthy crowd of children and adults at the ACM (Asian Civilisations Museum).

The last remaining performers of the unique Teochew metal-rod puppetry in Singapore, Sin Ee Lye Heng keeps alive a performing art that has been part of the country’s heritage for at least a century. Hope our Teochew community will support them!

We don't mention this enough. The Teochew Store has our own YouTube channel (with 10,000 fans now!), with a number of curated playlists with videos for Teochew language lessons, trendy music, films, documentary, culture, opera and children too!

Youtube.com/@theteochewstore

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 潮铺 (@theteochewstore)

We thanks Ethos Diary, an inspiring student-led project from Singapore, for this interview with our The Teochew Store co-founder, Jason.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ethos' Diary ☼ (@ethosdiary_)

潮州剪纸是潮州传统民间艺术之一。它展示了花果、鸟兽、人物、风景和文字图案等，具有非常浓厚的潮州文化特色。今年中秋节期间，来自中国潮安的潮州剪纸传人黄朝阳先生出席了新加坡潮安会馆举行的“花好月圆 潮安共庆中秋”活动，为来宾们展示了其精湛的剪纸艺术。“速剪”、“盲剪”等娴熟的剪艺让现场观众叹为观止。此外，黄朝阳先生还在潮安会馆开设了剪纸体验班，将潮州剪纸的历史、文化和技术毫无保留地传授给海外的学员们。

黄朝阳先生是如何与潮州剪纸结缘？跟其他地方的剪纸相比，潮州剪纸有何特色？潮舗近期连线黄朝阳先生，请他讲讲他与潮州剪纸的故事。

Folklores have always been important in helping to preserve and transmit the identity and values of cultures.

The Fairy Serpent is a Teochew variant of “Beauty and the Beast”. It tells about the life of a girl whose virtues not only saved her father from evil but also transformed the serpent she was forced to marry into a kind-hearted man.

Originally collected in Adele Fielde’s Chinese Nights’ Entertainment (download for free here), this ageless story has been beautifully retold in a book by Huang Lei, a Teochew illustrator from Singapore.

You may read The Fairy Serpent in English from this link.

Or watch it in Teochew (with English or Chinese subtitles):

English subtitles

带有中文字幕

Mid-Autumn Festival Celebrations at the Singapore Teo Ann Huay Kuan 潮安會館. A night when families and traditions came alive for the young and the not-so-old ❤️❤️

Homecoming,  似水流年 (“Years flowed by like water”) in Chinese, swept a total of six awards at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1985, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Screenplay and Best Art Direction.

Stilll remembered as the best Hong Kong film produced in the 1980s, Homecoming was shot mainly in location in Tah-gang village of Gek-yor (揭陽塔崗乡) in Teochew.

In recent months, a series of short videos about overseas Teochews have gone viral on Douyin (TikTok), Facebook and other popular social media platforms, and captured the attention of Teochew communities in China and abroad. The videos originate from the official accounts of the Teochew cuisine documentary, “Flavours of Teochew from the Four Seas” (四海潮味, unofficial English translation). Featuring humorous and touching live stories of Teochew people living in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and France, the clips take on a refreshing perspective to present the blending of the Teochew identity with a diversity of local cultures.

Tan Wanxuan (陳婉璇), who hails from Teo-ann (潮安) district in Teochew, China, is the external liaison and producer of this documentary, as well as the director and editor of these short videos. Using Teochew food as a medium, “Flavours of Teochew from the Four Seas” describes the culture, customs and emotional longing for home of Teochew people from different corners of the world. How did Wanxuan become part of this documentary? What has she gained from her travels to these countries to interview and document about our Teochew cuisine and people? The Teochew Store was in touch with Wanxuan to learn about her story and “Flavours of Teochew from the Four Seas”.

Mr Terence Tan was a Teochew collector from Singapore and an accomplished researcher of Teochew modern history. The mere mention of his name draws praise from people with a keen interest in Teochew cultural history. He collected and organised extensive volumes of documents, music records, and old photographs related to Teochew. He also edited a book titled Memories of Old Swatow and enthusiastically supported other researchers in publishing their work, including articles, books, and magazines. His contributions to the research and dissemination of Teochew cultural history were immense. 

Even until the last days of his life in 2021, Terence was busy organising the materials he had on his computer to share with friends in various countries. In the blink of an eye, we approach the third anniversary of Terence’s passing. The Teochew Store reached out to his family and close friends, collecting documentary materials to revisit his acquaintance and contributions to Teochew cultural history through different perspectives.

 陈传忠先生是新加坡潮籍收藏家、也是研究潮州近代史的资深学者。只要一提起他，许多关注潮州文史的人士就肃然起敬，赞不绝口。他收藏整理了大量与潮州相关的文献、唱片及老照片，编著出版了《汕头旧影》一书，并热心协助其他研究人士出版文章、书籍和杂志，对潮州文史的研究和传播做出了卓越的贡献。

2021年，在陈传忠生命中的最后几天，他将多年收藏并整理的电子版文史资料毫不保留地分享给各地的同行。转眼，陈传忠先生逝世即将满三周年。潮舗特别连线了他的家人及生前好友，并收集了一些文献资料，希望能从不同角度拼凑、还原他与潮州文史的渊源和贡献。

The Teochew Store was honoured to be invited to present our experience in revitalising the Teochew language to a class of secondary three students participating in the Talent Development Programme (TDP) at Crescent Girls’ School, an esteemed secondary school in Singapore.

8th March is International Women’s Day. On this special day, we share Adele M. Fielde’s insightful observations, as an American Baptist Christian missionary, on the lives of women in Teochew 145 years ago. It is to the sacrifices of many of these women whom we owe what we have today.

The Forest of Miss Tang (陳小姐的森林) is a 40-minute Teochew language animation film produced in France. It tells the story of a Teochew family over six generations in Swatow, China, asking the question, to leave or to stay? The Forest of Miss Tang is the first Teochew language film to be produced in the West. It was broadcast on ARTE channel in Europe on 10 June 2023 and it has since been screened in a number of film festivals around the world.

The Teochew Store managed to speak with the film's director Denis Do, a Paris-born Teochew, to find out more about his feelings towards the Teochew identity and the creation of his film.

《陳小姐的森林》是一部在法国制作的潮语动画电影，它讲述了从十九世纪至今，一个汕头家庭绵延六代人的故事。它抛出了一个问题：“在社会剧烈变迁的背景下，我们是离开还是继续留在自己的家乡？”这部时长40分钟的动画电影已于2023年6月10日在ARTE（德法公共电视台）首映，这是潮语电影首次登陆欧洲。也在全球多个电影节的银幕上亮相，在各国的潮州社群中收获了不少好评和讨论。

潮舗特别连线本片的导演杜来顺（Denis Do），一位法国巴黎出生并成长的潮州青年,聊聊他对潮州人身份认同的经过，并运用于电影创作的过程。