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About
A brief column in the Malaya Tribune on 22 October 1937 mentions a pilgrimage to the “sacred isle of Kusu” at “this time of the year” [October]. “Hundreds of Chinese, even Malays, arrive during the day, bringing with them all conceiveable kinds of offerings…On the island itself, there is probably a Chinese wayang (there used to be every year in the past), also a ronggeng party, and altogether, the visitor who goes there for the first time witnesses what must appear to him a fete held on a small scale.”
Another report in the Sunday Tribune (Singapore) on 29 September 1946 mentions this pilgrimage and writes that, “more than twenty thousand Singapore Chinese” made the “annual ninth moon pilgrimage to Pulau Kusu or Peak Island”. This was the first “full-scale pilgrimage since 1941 and many are going to Pulau Kusu to fulfil vows which they could not keep with full rights and ceremony during the occupation. The report also mentions that there was a “Teochew Wayang performing on the island” on the “14th, 15th and 16th of the ninth moon”.
On 10 December 1949, news of an allegation against two men who “sold tickets for free wayang” appeared in The Straits Times, suggesting that the Tua Pek Gong temple continued to invite troupes to perform Chinese wayang during the festival in the late 1940s to the 1950s.
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| Order | Schedule Item | Type | Date/Time | Venue | City/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | – | – | – | – | – |
Person and Troupe
| Name | Type | Role in Festival | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No performer information recorded. | |||
| Performer (collaborateWith) | Purpose |
|---|---|
| – |
Associated Performance(s)
Media
Sources
- “Kusu Island”, Malaya Tribune, 22 October 1937, 2. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19371022-1.2.9
- “20,000 On Pilgrimage To ‘Magic Island'”, Sunday Tribune (Singapore), 29 September 1946, 1. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/sundaytribune19460929-1.2.10
- “Sold Tickets For Free Wayang”, The Straits Times, 10 December 1949, 7. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19491210-1.2.91
Contributor
2026. “Kusu Island Pilgrimage“. In Performing Archipelagos, edited by Kyueun Kim, Alvin Eng Hui Lim and Hedren Wai Yuan Sum. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
