The MC who repeated himself

In our village, there was one little cinema. The roof was zinc and asbestos and you can imagine how hot and stuffy the cinema could be during the day showing. Ma ma was a regular, and I was always asked to book the tickets in advance so much so that the lady in the box office gradually got to know me even by name. I ingratiated her ... it was obvious for it meant I could have free shows because she would usher me in, especially on those days that ma ma did not watch the movies. Since we did not even have a television at home, the cinema was my main entertainment!

Seeing that the cinema was my favourite haunt, my older sisters got worried. "Choo, go and study and stop going to the cinema! Exams!" they would nag at me. "Sis, exams over lah!" They were surprised to see good marks in my report cards, nevertheless!
Once, there was great excitement in the village. Apart from the movie, Liang Shang Po yu Zhu Ying Tai (Love Eternal) the main actress, Ivy Ling Po, was personally making a stage appearance after the movie. The cinema was jam packed every evening for a week. However, trouble started for the MC on the third day. His speech seemed to be a repetition. In Hokkien dialect he said, "Kam siah, lu lang pah pok,"
(thanks for your applause) and before he could finish his speech, the children in the audience completed his sentence for him, "kim meh chiah lu chiak kah li pok" (tonight give you a treat of curry puffs). It was quite hilarious to see to the stunned look of the MC but he quickly collected his composure and continued, "Kam siah lu lang pak chiu" (Thanks for clapping your hands) and again the children completed the sentence "Kim meh chiah lu lim chiu)! (Tonight treat you to some wine).

The following day, the MC changed his speech format! He should or the children would take over the microphone! I love the children and villagers. Though simple and poor, they often showed such zest for living. Though not very educated and in fact, the older generation was often uneducated, they were often laughing and getting so much fun out of life!

Gan Chau