As getai remains virtual this Hungry Ghost month and demand drops, performers worry about uncertain future

• The number of getai live shows during the ongoing Hungry Ghost Festival has dropped from 2020
• Getai shows are still largely virtual
• One organiser was hoping he could organise a hybrid show, but scrapped plans after a surge in Covid-19 cases
• Some others hope that outdoor live shows will resume in 2022 

SINGAPORE — With getai shows continuing to be staged online during this year’s Hungry Ghost Festival due to Covid-19 restrictions, performers in the industry said that demand has dropped drastically, causing some to worry for the industry’s future. 

Although Singapore has exited a phase of tighter Covid-19 restrictions, getai performers and organising are still playing it safe and choosing to live stream their shows online so as not to attract large crowds in public spaces. 

This was similar to what getai organisers did last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible for getai performances to be held the traditional way — large outdoor performances at public housing estates with thousands in the audience.

Getai shows and live auctions are typically held during the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar as part of the festivities for the Hungry Ghost Festival, which is rooted in Toaoist and Buddhist traditions pertaining to the dead. This year, it is observed from Aug 8 to Sept 6.

Getai performers and organisers told TODAY that their audience is having "livestream fatigue" and they are putting on fewer shows this year.

Veteran getai singer Wang Lei, who has been in the industry for 23 years, said that he put on 10 live shows last year, but is only performing five this year. 

“It used to be getai live shows waiting for us. Now, we are waiting at home for getai,” he said. 

Mr Aaron Tan, founder of Lex(S) Entertainment Productions, estimated that there are about 30 virtual getai shows being put on this year, down from more than 50 last year.

His company alone will be organising 16 shows. He did close to 30 shows last year, though many were small-scale performances.

Getai singer Jason Chung, 48, said that the number of calls he has received inviting him to perform this year has dropped by at least half from last year.

Another getai singer, Ms Pek Jia Xuan, 24, also saw a similar decline, from about six shows last year to just three now. 

Mr Chung, who performed his first show last Sunday, attributed the decline to the novelty of livestream shows wearing off. 

“Watching on your handphone, how long can you watch? When you use your handphone or laptop, your eyes will be tired… You need to think of ways to make it more exciting. It’s not easy at all.” 

He added: “It’s just another online livestream, you cannot get the real feel anymore. Of course, the audience logs in to support, but just for a little while and to 'see see', and then, nothing special.” 

Mr Tan of Lex(S) Entertainment Productions said that another reason for the fall in demand for getai shows is that times are bad for their clients. 

Many committees, typically set up by temples or associations for the occasion, have not been able to hold dinners, prayers or auctions, due to safe-distancing measures imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19. 

These activities usually provide them the financial means to fund getai shows. 

“Whatever they are spending right now is their reserves. So they have to be very careful not to spend every single cent,” Mr Tan said. 

He also said that some people have chosen to skip organising getai shows this year, in the hope that they would be able to do outdoor live shows next year, given that the Government has committed to opening up the economy and live with Covid-19 as an endemic disease circulating among the population. 

Mr Tan was initially hoping that he could organise a hybrid getai show this year, with a small number of audience members allowed to watch the show in person at the venue — with crowd control and safe-distancing measures in place — as well as having a live stream. 

He started making plans for such a hybrid show in December last year and even shifted the location of his shows from a studio to a theatre. 

Then, the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the last few months, which prompted the authorities to tighten restrictions, waylaid his plans. 

Even though restrictions have eased since Aug 10, Mr Tan said that the turnaround time was too tight and that it was better to be more cautious for the safety of his crew. 

Although there are fewer shows this year, getai singers told TODAY that the quality of the virtual shows have increased because the crew has gotten used to the set-up required after conducting live streams last year. 

Ms Pek said that there were a number of technical issues at first such as laggy internet connections. 

“Throughout these few months, these issues have decreased compared with last year’s shows,” she noted. 

The use of LED screens and virtual backgrounds have also been incorporated onstage, Mr Chung said. 

Some in the industry are hopeful that things will turn the corner next year and that some form of outdoor getai show could return. 

Getai host Lee Pei Fen, 33, believes that there will still probably be some restrictions, such as the number of people allowed in the audience, if getai does return to its more familiar format of outdoor live performances. 

Mr Wang, however, was more pessimistic. 

The getai veteran believes that even if outdoor live performances are allowed next year or in 2023, half of the industry would have exited the business by then. Many associations are considering pulling down the shutters and some getai musicians have started selling their instruments, he said. 

“Getai is a part of Singaporean culture. But because of this pandemic, we lost our culture,” he said.